Marcus Thomas Kern's Obituary
Funeral Service for Marcus Thomas Kern “Cupie”, 90, of DeRidder, LA, will be held at 2 P.M., Saturday, December 31, 2011, at Labby Memorial Funeral Home of DeRidder, LA, with Father Jude Brunnert officiating. Burial will follow in Beauregard Cemetery in DeRidder, LA, under the direction of Labby Memorial Funeral Home of DeRidder, LA. Mr. Kern passed away Thursday, December 29, 2011, in DeRidder, LA. Visitation will begin Friday, December 30, 2011, at 5 PM until 9 PM at the funeral home.
Marcus is survived by his wife of 69 years, Alma Dale Kern of DeRidder; sons, James T. Kern and wife Mary Beth of Tulsa, OK, Jerry Kern and wife Kaye of DeRidder, LA and Ronald D. Kern and wife Nanette of DeRidder, LA; 11 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, C.C. Kern and Leo Cadie Kern and his son Jeffery C. Kern.
Marcus T. Kern he moved to DeRidder with his family when he was two years old, and lived all his life in DeRidder. He ws a graduate of DeRidder High School and was enrolled in L.S.U. when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He served in the Army Air Force for twenty months; then he was transferred to the 9th Infantry Division where he served as a rifleman and B.A.R. (Browning Automatic Rifle) operator in the Battle of the Buldge in Germany till the end of the war in Germany. He returned to DeRidder and was employed as Sales Manager and Route Supervisor for DeRidder Coca Cola and Dixie Maid Ice Cream Company for eight years. He then decided that DeRidder needed a good sporting goods store. He then opened Kern’s Sporting Goods which he owned and operated. He along with Frenchie Governale, organized Little League Baseball (Little Boys Baseball) and served as Secretary and Treasury for quite a few years. He along with George Cline, Bob Crosby and some of Crosby Chemical employees started the DeRidder Golf Course (Country Club). He served as Secretary and Treasury for several years. He was a Charter Member of the J.C.’s and a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church also the Knights of Columbus and the V.F.W. He was a past member of the DeRidder Lions Club, DeRidder Rotary Club, and the American Legion.
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