Just an update this thread in case someone out there runs into the same prob. I called and talked to the Guru (Marlin) and he said it was likely the THIRD gear syncro ( My mistake in the previous post, I said the first gear syncro was bad) and was likely caused by the Bearing cover plate wearing, leaving too much play in the main shaft. I inspected it closely and confirmed he was right (Of Course). I replaced the plate with the heavy duty bearing plate he sells along with the new shifting fork and 3rd syncro and a couple of seals and put it all back together and it works flawlessly. Much tighter shifting and it no longer pops out of first. Excellent help from MarlinCrawler!!!!!
Thanks!

Larry