Marius Fuselier, Jr (1921 - 1988)

This is a photo of my father Marius Fuselier, Jr. This is his bio. Marius’s childhood was normal for that day. At eight years old, he sold newspapers office to office. One regular customer was oil pioneer, Scott Haywood, who always paid Marius double the price for the paper. At age twelve he gained control of the largest paper route in Jennings and for five years made it into a profitable business. In high school he was a stock boy in a grocery store, a hot drummer in a country dance band and a photographer for a title guarantee company. Also during this time in high school, he excelled academically at Jennings High School. He was Valedictorian of his class when he graduated at the age of seventeen. He also made a perfect grade in the state spelling contest.

When Marius graduated from Jennings high school (in 1938 with high honors ), his goal was an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. It soon became apparent that his father's political attitudes were not right to get an appointment. He ended up enrolling in the University of Southwestern Louisiana and become a CPA. At USWL, he was offered a full scholarship. He was a member of the Blue Key National Honor Society, Editor of the campus newspaper, cross country runner, musician in the band and symphony orchestra and a member of the student government. He attended SLI at Lafayette where his scholastic standing has been so high that scholastic examinations were waived for entrance to Annapolis. The political climate changed and at the end of his junior year, he was offered an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. (He was the first Jennings youth ever to go to Annapolis ).

At the Academy Marius was a classmate of the soon to become famous Ed Ladd, Dick Hardy and astronaut, Alan Shepherd. During his three years at the Academy, he also became acquainted with future President, Jimmy Carter.

Marius "Fuzzy", was a Company Commander (in the Eleventh Company, in Bancroft hall ), business manager of the Annapolis Calendar, battalion track, tennis and squash team member and shower room humorist. He achieved the rating as STAR for scholastic performance his last two years. He gained considerable notoriety as "SALTY SAM", his pen name as a writer for THE LOG, the campus magazine. He graduated in the upper tenth of his class. On graduation, he returned home to Jennings, LA. During this time he met his future wife, Betty Lu Scott.

The young Naval officer soon left for the Pacific Seventh Fleet and an assignment aboard the destroyer USS Shaw. He saw service in Layte Gulf, at Lingayen Gulf during the Philippine Campaign, and survived one of the earliest Kamikaze attacks in the Mindanao Sea. Marius and the Shaw returned stateside for repairs after extensive damage was sustained at Cebwok in the Philippines. While The USS Shaw was inactive in New Orleans, he pursued Betty Lu Scott. He left New Orleans engaged to her. He and Betty were married in the Washington D.C. Naval chapel Oct. 27, 1945.

Later Marius was assigned to three months of Gunnery School at the U.S. Navel Receiving station, in Washington D.C. The young married couple lived at 321 Raleigh street, S.E. Washington, DC.

"Gunner" (as he was known by this time) also served as Gunnery Officer on the USS Fechteler and for two years was an Assistant to the Head of Guided Missile Branch, Navy Bureau of Ordnance. They lived in Brooklyn, Yonkers, Newport news, VA and in Bath and Portland, Maine.

Because of too much exposure to gunfire, he was finally fitted with a hearing aid and given a medical retirement in 1949 which ended his career as a Navel Officer. His next career took him back to New Orleans and a brief period as an Insurance Adjuster for General Motors. This lasted until 1951. In 1951 he started work for General Electric, who was looking for an engineer with guided Missile knowledge. He became a Sales Engineer for GE in Pittsfield, MA., selling seawater batteries and spare parts. In 1955, he transferred to Philadelphia in Polaris Sales. He was soon extracted from Marketing and implanted in Engineering as Manager-Engineering Administration in Pittsfield, where he excelled.

Within the community, he was a primary supporter of the town's community theater group, The Town Players. His community activities included service as chairman of the Technical Advisory Committee-Pittsfield High, Advisory Committee-Berkshire Community College, Mass Rehabilitation Industry Advisory Council and a strong advocate of neighborhood action.

He and Betty found time to travel to Turkey, Spain, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Yugoslavia, Mexico, Canada, Austria, Portugal, Monaco, France, Germany, Luxembourg, England, Scotland, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Borneo and Bali.