1924
Marion
2015
Marion Salvatore Scalisi
August 4, 1924 — November 18, 2015
A gathering of family and friends will be held at David Funeral Home of Abbeville on Friday, November 20, 2015 from 2:00PM until 8:00PM with the recitation of the Rosary at 7:00PM. The funeral home will reopen on Saturday, November 21, 2015 at 8:00AM until the time of the services.
A native and lifelong resident of Abbeville, Marion died peacefully surrounded by his family at 11:28AM on November 18, 2015 at his home.
Marion was an altar server at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church. He attended Mount Carmel Catholic School where he boxed, played football, and engaged in general mischief.
In the summer of 1941, Marion hitchhiked to New Orleans where he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. A little fibbery was involved, as he was 16 years of age.
After his training, Rifleman Scalisi joined G Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. They then shortly sailed into the Pacific.
From the fall of 1942 to the spring of 1943, Marion fought at the Battle of Guadalcanal, where the advance of the Japanese in the Pacific was finally stopped and the push-back began. During that period, he was assigned the duty of battalion runner. One day there, Marion, the irrepressible jokester, on a dare, darted far to the rear, worked his way offshore to a supply ship, and, by hook & crook, returned to the incredulous Marines on the line with a seabag full of cigarettes and candy bars.
After Guadalcanal, Marion and his unit spent time in New Zealand, where they trained, regrouped, and tended to the various illnesses that they had acquired in the jungle.
20 November 1943 found Corporal Scalisi in an amtrac with his M-1 Garand in the second wave of Marines assaulting Red Beach 3, Betio Island, Tarawa. This was the first major amphibious assault of a heavily fortified enemy position. During the 76-hr Battle of Tarawa, Marion became isolated and pinned down by enemy fire. He then loudly hailed the Mother of Our Lord. The machinegun fire lifted, and Marion was there granted the grace of a fuller appreciation of the Holiness of Our Mother, along with the reassurance that he was in the palm of the hand of Her Son, Jesus. Thereafter, Marion’s life was filled with frequent and fervent prayer. His prayers were always of thanksgiving, with the only begging being that for forgiveness and grace. He humbly told of his salvation to anyone who would listen, for no one to him was a stranger. He usually spoke of it along with a slightly salty joke, and always with his impish grin.
Tarawa was it for Marion. He returned home frail, malarial, his innards roiled by bomb concussion, and with a hidden wound, the mystery of surviving where so many of his fellow Marines perished. Decades would pass before time healed the pain to the point where he could quietly speak about Lt. Bernaham, Lt. Powell, Brozyia, Morris Lovejoy, and many others. These were Marion’s heroes.
He married his sweetheart Mary Langlinais of Erath in 1948. This union, this celebration of life, resulted in eleven children.
Marion took ownership of the business established by his Father, Scalisi Tailors and Cleaners, in 1953, where he and Mary toiled for over thirty years cleaning, pressing, hemming and seaming, in order to sustain themselves and what was the ever growing number of children that, collectively, were the Scalisi’s of Second Street.
In celebration of his faith in God and as an expression of his Sicilian descent, Marion was instrumental in establishing the St. Joseph’s Day Supper in Abbeville during the late 1960’s.
Marion was quite fond of chance. If you favored a boxer, a team or a horse, and had a nickel to bet, you could confer with “Sky”. Give him a pair of dice or a deck of cards, and you had a party.
Marion was born lighthearted. The darkness he experienced in the Pacific did not diminish his light, but, rather, only increased it, for it made him evermore aware that each day was a gift from God. This light shined on everyone he met, and manifested itself in a home always filled with loud joy, laughter, reverence and thanksgiving.
Marion is survived by his loving wife Mary, along with ten of their eleven children; Peter Scalisi and wife Denise, of Lafayette, Connie Scalisi Trahan of Abbeville, Miriam Lucy Scalisi of New Iberia, Dominic Scalisi and wife Maxine, of Abbeville, Patricia Scalisi Delcambre and husband Randy, of Abbeville, Martin Scalisi and wife Kay, of Erath, Theresa Scalisi Theall and husband Thad, of Maurice, Annette Scalisi Robichaux and husband Neal, of Abbeville, T/Sgt. Joseph Scalisi, USAF (Ret’d.) and wife Polly, of Abbeville, and Nancy Scalisi of Beaumont, Texas.
Marion is survived by eighteen grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren.
Marion is also survived by his siblings Catherine Scalisi Autin, of Lafayette, Samuel Scalisi and wife Grace, of China, Texas, and Mary Anne Scalisi Fewell, of Goleta, California.
He was preceded in death by his father, Maurice Scalisi; mother, Josephine Tortomase; and siblings Anthony Scalisi, Jerome Scalisi, Rose Margret Scalisi Thompson, M/Sgt. Bernard Scalisi, USAF (Ret’d), and Anna Belle Scalisi Stelly. Marion was also preceded in death by the sixth of his and Mary’s children, Phillip.
Serving as pallbearers will be Jared Scalisi, Chris Trahan, Sal Scalisi, Roscoe Thibodeaux, Wayne Scalisi, and Larry Langlinais.
The family has requested in lieu of flowers donation be made to Wounded Warriors at support.woundedwarriorproject.org; Sisters of Mt. Carmel at P. O. Box 476 Lacombe, LA 70445-0476; or Hospice of Acadiana at 2600 Johnston Suite 200 St. Lafayette, LA 70503
David Funeral Homes of Abbeville at 2600 Charity St. (337)893-3777 will be handling the arrangements.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Marion Salvatore Scalisi, please visit our flower store.
Service Schedule
Past Services
Visitation
Friday, November 20, 2015
2:00 - 8:00 pm (Central time)
David Funeral Home Chapel of Abbeville
Rosary
Friday, November 20, 2015
Starts at 7:00 pm (Central time)
David Funeral Home Chapel of Abbeville
Visitation
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Starts at 8:00 am (Central time)
David Funeral Home Chapel of Abbeville
Funeral Service
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Starts at 11:00 am (Central time)
St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church
Burial
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Starts at 12:00 pm (Central time)
St. Paul Cemetery
Guestbook
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