Marion (Mennon) Franklin Chambliss Sr., 90, was born August 30, 1925, the 6th of 14 children, in a rural area outside of Xenia, Ohio. His parents were Benjamin Franklin Chambliss and Grace Pickel Chambliss.
They were a poor family during the Great Depression. At a young age Marion and several of his brothers and sisters were taken to the Greene County Orphanage, as his parents “could not afford to feed them”.
At the age of 8 Marion got a job with the Hobbs family at the Greene County Fair. When it came time for the fair to move on, Mr. Hobbs approached the orphanage about taking Marion with them. The Home agreed, “after all, it will be one less mouth to feed”. Marion stayed with the Hobbs family until he joined the Army Reserve in Fort Hamilton, Ohio in 1943.
He soon ended up in the Pacific Theatre. One dark night while Corporal Chambliss and his squad were out on patrol, they were ambushed by the Japanese. Several men were killed outright and Corporal Chambliss was severely wounded and unable to walk. Corporal Chambliss and the four remaining squad members fought fiercely. When it became apparent that they would be overrun, Corporal Chambliss took the ammo and grenades from the other 4 and ordered them to crawl to safety, while he stayed behind and continued to fight to create a diversion. The four men and the rest of the platoon returned at first light, expecting to collect Corporal Chambliss and the rest of the bodies. When they arrived he was severely wounded, but lying against a coconut log; he looked up at them and said “Where in the hell have you been?” Strewn before him were the dead bodies of 19 Japanese soldiers. He was 19 years old at the time. For this action he received the Bronze Star with V for Valor, as well as his first Purple Heart.
After recuperation in the hospital he finished out WWII attached to a Radar Unit. After WWII ended he remained in Japan as part of the Occupation Forces. While in Japan he earned his GED, what he called his “Good Enough Diploma”.
In 1948 he returned to Springfield, Ohio where he met his first wife Donna. In 1949 his first son Jimmie Lee Chambliss was born. Jimmie Lee was K.I.A. on January 12, 1970 in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam.
After he and Donna divorced he later met and married his second wife Pauline. They moved to Los Angeles, California where he worked at the Boeing Plant. Marion hated LA so he and Pauline divorced and he returned to Springfield.
While back in Ohio, he was recalled by the Army and fought in the Korean Conflict. He was wounded twice more Korea and received two more Purple Hearts. All told, he received 32 medals and commendations throughout his career. He left the Army as a Master Sargent.
You see, he actually was a Hero, not just the Super Hero of his children.
After the Korean Conflict he sought out the Hobbs family and returned to the Carnival Business, travelling around the United States and the Caribbean. While winter quartering in Tampa, Florida he met his third wife Ethel Jarvis.
They were married in 1959 and they had four children together; Marion F. Chambliss Jr., born May 1960 in Tampa, Florida; Patti Sue Chambliss McCormick, born December 1964 in Pasadena, Texas; Robert M. Chambliss, born July 1966 in Pasadena, Texas; and Cassandra Christine Chambliss Mangum, born January 1968 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He and Ethel divorced in 1972.
In 1983 he married his 4th and final wife Linda Toner in Pasadena, Texas. They had one child together, Ami Lu Chambliss, born May 1986 in Houston, Texas. He also helped raise one step-daughter, Krystal Gayle Toner. He and Linda divorced in 1996.
Marion spent the remainder of his life moving between Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas to be near his children and grandchildren. 15 years ago he finally settled in Pasadena, Texas.
Throughout his life Marion was a Soldier, Carney, Truck Driver, Amusement Park Manager, Roofer, Plant Worker, and for the last 35 years as an Entrepreneur. His favorite job of all though was Daddy, Grandpa, and Great Grandpa. He spent the last years as a vendor at Coles Flea Market in Pearland. There he is known to all simply as “Grandpa and Old Man”.
His hobbies were grandchildren, gardening, baseball, chasing women, and collecting $100 bills. He was loved by all and will be tremendously missed.
He was preceded in death by his parents, oldest son Jimmie Lee, and 9 brothers and sisters.
He is survived by 5 natural children and 1 step-daughter; 15 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; 3 sisters; 1 brother; and countless in-laws, nieces, nephews and cousins.
Before he was called home, he spent 39 days in the hospital fighting valiantly before finally succumbing to complications of pneumonia and renal failure.
Marion Chambliss was 90 years and 324 days old. He is immensely loved and missed.
He is and always will be our Hero!
The family will receive friends from 5-7 p.m., Monday, July 25, 2016, at Rosewood Funeral Home, 3939 Pasadena Blvd., Pasadena, Texas 77503. Funeral service will be held at 12 p.m., Tuesday, July 26, 2016, in the Rosewood Funeral Home Chapel. Graveside service and interment will follow at 2:30 p.m., at Houston National Cemetery, 10410 Veterans Memorial Dr., Houston, Texas 77038.