John Marcus
Age - 76
December 2, 2023
John W. Marcus, storyteller, numbers guru, jazz fiend, and fervent coffee drinker, died on October 20, 2023. John was born to Marie Marcus on December 27, 1946 in Arabi, Louisiana. Just as he took pride in being unique, so will the sharing of his life.
It was often said that John lived many lives during his time, with each one contributing to his incredible gift for story-telling. A native of Arabi and a high school student at Holy Cross, his mother moved their family of two to Nashville while pursuing her doctorate in education. During his time there, he enjoyed being a saxophonist in a town ruled by guitarists, joining the band, The Jaguars, and playing jazz music every chance he got. Much to his mother's dismay, upon graduation at the age of 17, his band was offered a recording contract. As a minor, she insisted on their return to New Orleans, leading the ever-stubborn John to sign up with the Air Force in an act of protest. Here, he trained to be a combat medic, served in the Vietnam war, and discovered a pervasive fear of heights (which led him to later convince his daughters that Disney World contained only shows, restaurants, and a singular ride, It's A Small World).
After leaving the Air Force, he attended Centenary College for biology and chemistry, and then entered the Tulane MBA program to obtain a degree in business and fell in love with finance. In his final year at Tulane as a teaching assistant, he fell in love with Debbie. John demonstrated his affection for Debbie, his student, by grading her tests harder than any other student. Despite this, John and Debbie married on April Fool's Day (intentionally) and remained married for 45 years until his death.
After earning his MBA, John pursued a CPA designation, eventually forming a CPA and consulting business with Debbie. The next (and best) partnership they entered into was parenthood, having two daughters, Rachael and Rebecca, who he adored as little girls. These are the things that everyone knew about him. Next are the things that we who knew him best will remember him for.
Those that really knew him well will remember that he loved teaching others (particularly through NACVA) by demonstrating his passion for his craft; that he never met an apple product he didn't like; that his dog was his favorite child; that he was able to make Costco a multi-hour adventure every time, especially if lightbulbs were on sale; that he got visibly upset at bad grammar, incorrect punctuation, and poor spelling; that Nero D'Avola was the only red he would drink, but a Riesling would always have his heart; and that he had read most every John Grisham novel that existed.
Those that knew knew him will remember him for the following in no particular order: his insistence on having MSNBC on in the background on every TV, tablet, or audio player available; his strong and inexplicable dislike for Pioneer Woman; his eager participation in every episode of "Columbo" and "Monk" with a youth-like jubilance; that Green Onions by Booker T. & the M. G. 's was and will always be his song; his lifelong attempt at perfecting smoked ribs and homemade shrimp cocktail sauce; how much he favored decorating with an equal mix of palm trees and fleurs de lis; his distinct fondness of Mr. Rogers, sweater-vests included; and how his snowball of choice was half cherry, half spearmint, with a giant pickle in the middle.
We who loved him most will remember him for his willingness to feign blindness while playing "spy" so his girls could "win"; that he shaved his beloved (and scratchy) beard for our kisses; the (many) times he tried (and failed) to do the Carleton; his willingness to accept a golf tie for every birthday, Christmas, and Father's Day gift; that he never tired of answering our endless questions; his belief that real Christmas trees are the only Christmas trees; that he taught us all how to blow straw wrappers at the dinner table; how he instituted "tax timers" to implement regularly-intervaled assessments during Monopoly to encourage "healthy habits"; that he had about a 60% success rate in convincing Debbie to play family games; that he never failed to show up to father-daughter activities at school; and that he created many bedtime stories using his made-up character: with one brown eye and one green eye, -a perfect mix of his two girls, Raecca.
John is missed by his partner in everything, his wife, Debbie, and their daughters, Rachael Johns (Eric), and Rebecca Palermo (Stefano). He is also survived by his five grandchildren, Connor Johns, Adam Johns, Zoey Johns, Sabrina Palermo, and Stella Palermo. A memorial will be held to celebrate his life on Sunday, December 3, from 10:00-12:00 at Lakelawn Metairie Funeral Home.Show more
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