Marion County Remembers

Remembering WT1C Paul Wright (Spencer) January 29, 1922 - December 18, 1944 ---- WT1C Paul Wright  (Service Number 35382677) was born in Spencer, WV, on January 29, 1922, the son of Romeo "Romie" Wright and Eva (Parsons) Wright. Romie worked as a laborer (1920 Census) and carpenter (1930 Census) in Spencer. Their family consisted of siblings Ernest, Helen, Mabel, Charles, twins Paul and Pauline, and William. Another brother, Frederick, had died in 1918 at age 2. In 1931, tragedy struck the Wright family. Eva died April 14, 1931 of tuberculosis....soon followed by their daughters Helen (1932) and Mabel (1933), and Helen's husband, Wilbur Rose (1933). On August 27, 1933, Romie (42) married 24-year-old Evelyn Zinn. Just over six years later, Romie succumbed to blood poisoning after surgery (1938).  In that span-of-time, Paul attended one year of high school in Spencer (1938) before moving in with his aunt and uncle, Clay and Mae Wright. Clay farmed his own land in Ohio,...

Remembering SSGT Louis Josephius Tootsey (Fairmont) February 5, 1916 - October 10, 1945 ---- Note: While most military and census files list his name as Tootsey, in other places their family name is listed as Tuzi, including on his parents' gravestone. ---- SSGT Louis J. Tootsey (Service Number 15097583) was born February 5, 1916, the son of Italian immigrants Peo and Teresa (DeArcangelis). Tootsey/Tuzi. When Louis was born, their family lived in Fairmont, WV, near the neighborhood of Bellview. Peo worked as a laborer, in both the coal mine (1910, 1920, 1940 Censuses), and the glass factory (1930 Census). Louis was a 1934 graduate of West Fairmont High School (WV Memory Project). On July 3, 1936, Louis married Anna Ruth Wills in Paintsville, Kentucky. Military Service:  On October 16, 1940, Louis registered for the draft in Van Lear, Kentucky, where he lived with his wife Anna. He was employed by Consolidated Coal in Van Lear. Louis was 5'11" and 180 lbs with brown hair, ...