In Memoriam

(reprinted from Gainesville.com, February 25, 2006)

Dream of flying took Marine from Toys 'R' Us into Africa

Becoming a Marine changed Cpl. Matthieu Marcellus' life.

Marcellus, one of the 10 U.S. servicemen killed in a helicopter crash on Friday off the Horn of Africa, went from managing a Toys "R" Us in Gainesville to becoming an aviation technician, his brother Jacob Marcellus of Miramar told The Sun Monday. His brother had wanted to become a pilot, but he was too old by the time he joined the Marines three years ago, Jacob Marcellus said.

And although he couldn't indulge his lifelong dream of being a pilot, Marcellus, 31, still loved his job of being a Marine, his brother said.

"Let me tell you something: My brother was so proud of being a Marine," said Jacob Marcellus, who works as a BMW technician in South Florida. "He conquered his fears of heights and his fear of water because he didn't know how to swim. He was gung-ho."

Matthieu Marcellus, who lived in Gainesville from 1997 to 2002, had briefly attended Santa Fe Community College in the fall 1998 and part of spring 1999 with aspirations of attending the University of Florida and being a walk-on and playing football for the Gators, his brother said. Marcellus enlisted in the Marines after his first marriage ended in divorce, his brother added.

None of the corporal's immediate family lives in Gainesville, his brother said.

Jacob Marcellus said his brother's death was "devastating" for the close-knit family.

The son of Haitian immigrants, Matthieu Marcellus moved to Florida from Brooklyn, N.Y., with his parents, two sisters and brother, Jacob Marcellus said.

He added that their father, who came to the United States in 1970, is a pastor at Galilee Baptist Church in Sunrise and that their mother suffers from Parkinson's disease.

Cpl. Marcellus was an aerial observer with the Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464, which is based at Marine Corps Air Station New River in Jacksonville, N.C. He was among eight Marines and two U.S. Air Force personnel who were killed when two CH-53 helicopters crashed in the Gulf of Aden off the northern coast of Djibouti while flying a training mission. Two crew members were rescued.

This was at least the second deployment in the War on Terrorism for Marcellus' unit, which is nicknamed the Condors, said Master Sgt. Phil Mehringer, public affairs chief for the New River air station. The squadron was deployed to Djibouti as part of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.

Marcellus didn't appear to have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, Mehringer said.

During his first deployment to Africa, Marcellus met his current wife, Donna Marie Marcellus, who was also stationed in Djibouti with the U.S. Navy and is now living with her parents in South Carolina, Jacob Marcellus said. The couple had no children, but were planning on starting a family when Marcellus returned from Africa in April, his brother said.

A memorial service for Marcellus is scheduled for noon on Saturday at From the Heart Ministry Church, 301 N. Lakewood Drive in Brandon. Marcellus will be laid to rest in South Carolina, his family said.

SFCC President Jackson Sasser said he was stunned to hear of the former student's death and said that the college would honor Marcellus' memory.

"This is the third student from SFCC to be killed since the Iraq war started," Sasser told The Sun Monday. "What a tragedy."