Stinger Gunner USMC Posted January 22, 2017 Share #1 Posted January 22, 2017 This is not a post that I was prepared to make... This morning we lost my grandfather, Andrew Marcolini. Grandpa had an amazing life and has, without a doubt, been the most influential person in my life. Not only did I have the honor of sharing his name, he is the reason I became a United States Marine and have devoted my life to collecting and studying WWII military history. He was born in 1921 to Italian immigrants; his father was a coal miner and his mother was a bootlegger. He left Panama, Il the day after he finished high school and joined the Marines in June, 1942. He served in kodiak, Alaska as a Staff Sergeant with the Marine Defense Battalion as the chief cook of the entire base. When he returned from the war he filled in his fathers footsteps and became a coal miner with Peabody, where he spent the next thirty years. Some of my fondest memories are our weekend lunches at Angelos in Taylorville - and I can't think of a single time in my life where I saw him and didn't have a meal. He sure loved his Italian food! He was the patriarch of our family and a symbol of how to live life to the fullest and never give up. He not only survived the Second World War, but lived half of his 95 years with black lung from the coal mine and had successfully beat rectal cancer in the late 70s when he was told he wouldn't survive a year. He survived a heart attack and from his mid 70s through his 95th year was an avid ball room dancer, often dancing three nights a week! His last battle was with pancreatic cancer, which he fought off for an unbelievable six years. I can't imagine a world without him in it, but have been unbelievably blessed with over 30 years of wonderful memories. Semper fidelis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HistoryNut Posted January 22, 2017 Share #2 Posted January 22, 2017 Beautiful tribute. So very sorry for your loss...prayers to you and your family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Niles Posted January 22, 2017 Share #3 Posted January 22, 2017 This is what it's all about, family memories and history! So sorry for your loss and God bless your Grandfather and your family. This is what makes America great, people like your Grandfather! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mes Posted January 22, 2017 Share #4 Posted January 22, 2017 So sorry for your loss. Sounds he was great guy and I know you will always treasure your memories with him. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1ashooter Posted January 22, 2017 Share #5 Posted January 22, 2017 Sorry for your loss but he lived a long life. Another Marine is guarding the Gates of Heaven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundance Posted January 22, 2017 Share #6 Posted January 22, 2017 Sorry for your loss. Think of him as being in a better place and may he rest in peace. Sounds like a great man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerialbridge Posted January 22, 2017 Share #7 Posted January 22, 2017 Fine tribute. He had a long life and sounds like he was a great guy that will live on in you and those whose lives he shaped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumpin Jack Posted January 22, 2017 Share #8 Posted January 22, 2017 James, my sincere condolance for your loss. I can now understand where you derived your love of the Corps. He lived a long and fruitful life. Jack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themick Posted January 22, 2017 Share #9 Posted January 22, 2017 So, when did your grandfather live in Taylorville Ill? Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmith Posted January 22, 2017 Share #10 Posted January 22, 2017 Another fine Marine and gentleman, and like the rest, hard as woodpecker lips. Certainly a long full life to be celebrated, and I'm glad that you two created so many fond memories together. I'm sure your service to the Corps created a special bond between the two of you. As long as you keep memories of him in mind, and love for him in your heart, he will never leave us. RIP SSG Marcolini. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stinger Gunner USMC Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share #11 Posted January 22, 2017 So, when did your grandfather live in Taylorville Ill? Steve Steve, my grandpa lived between Hillsboro, Nokomis, Stonington and Taylorville all his life. It all depended on what mine they wanted him at any given season. He pretty much settled there from around 69-94 though. My mom graduated at Taylorville in 70 and my uncle from there in 83. They lived on Cheney St through the 70s and he lived in the blue apartments behind Angelos in the late 80s when I was a kid. He remarried in 94 and went back to Hillsboro for good. I grew up just south of Taylorville in Morrisonville on RT 48 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BROBS Posted January 22, 2017 Share #12 Posted January 22, 2017 It doesn't matter their age it's always still hard. My grandfather was 101 when he went and it doesn't make it any easier. I know how hard it is watching the strongest man you knew turn into the weakest. He's up there now watching and making sure you do as he said! -Brian Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagmanL6 Posted January 22, 2017 Share #13 Posted January 22, 2017 Semper Fidelis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rakkasan187 Posted January 22, 2017 Share #14 Posted January 22, 2017 My Condolences to you and your family.. You were Blessed with many years with him... Leigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottplen Posted January 23, 2017 Share #15 Posted January 23, 2017 Prayers for your family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stinger Gunner USMC Posted January 28, 2017 Author Share #16 Posted January 28, 2017 Thank you, all for your kind words. We said our goodbyes on Tuesday and I placed an EGA on his pillow, a fitting way for one Marine to say goodbye to another I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capa Posted January 28, 2017 Share #17 Posted January 28, 2017 Fair winds and following seas Marine! Sorry for your loss. Semper Fidelis! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themick Posted January 28, 2017 Share #18 Posted January 28, 2017 Steve, my grandpa lived between Hillsboro, Nokomis, Stonington and Taylorville all his life. It all depended on what mine they wanted him at any given season. He pretty much settled there from around 69-94 though. My mom graduated at Taylorville in 70 and my uncle from there in 83. They lived on Cheney St through the 70s and he lived in the blue apartments behind Angelos in the late 80s when I was a kid. He remarried in 94 and went back to Hillsboro for good. I grew up just south of Taylorville in Morrisonville on RT 48 Hey Gunner, sorry for responding so late. The reason I asked you the question as to when your Marine lived in Taylorville is that my cousin, (the son of my Mon's parents' other daughter,) Marine Robert E. Lee was treasurer of Taylorville for 30 years beginning in the early 1950s I believe. Robert was a Wake Island Marine, who enlisted in 1936, two years seagoing on the USS Nevada before the war, and was on Wake, and spent the war in a Japanese prison camp in Shanghai. Given he spent all those years in Taylorville after the war, I'm guessing your guy and my cousin probably knew each other. On a side note, my mom, born in Taylorville, lived for some years in Nokomis, and I also remember her talking about Hillsboro very fondly. If your guy kept in touch with other Marines, as my cousin did, no doubt they knew each other. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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