SLS 19RS-742 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 81
BY SENATOR GATTI
COMMENDATIONS. Commends Marcus Wren Jr. on the occasion of his 95
th
birthday.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To commend Marcus Dee Wren Jr. of Minden, Louisiana, on the occasion of his ninety-fifth
3 birthday, January 29, 2019.
4 WHEREAS, Marcus Dee Wren Jr. was born to Ola Spencer and Marcus Dee Wren
5 Sr., a cotton and dairy farmer, on January 29, 1924; and
6 WHEREAS, on his paternal side, Marcus Dee Wren was the grandson of George
7 Lovic Pierce Wren, who was a farmer and represented his parish in the Louisiana House of
8 Representatives from 1884 through 1892 and was one of two who represented Bienville,
9 Bossier, Claiborne, and Webster parishes in the Louisiana Senate from 1892 through 1896,
10 during the first term of Governor Murphy J. Foster; and
11 WHEREAS, on his maternal side, his grandfather, Noah Spencer, was a
12 hard-working, self-made man who, as a young man, worked as a sharecropper to support his
13 mother and siblings when his father failed to return from service in the Civil War, eventually
14 saving enough money to buy forty acres that he cleared with an axe and a mule and, finally,
15 learning to read and write under the loving tutelage of his wife; and
16 WHEREAS, the legacy to Marcus Wren from both the Wren family and the Spencer
17 family was a commitment to family, hard work, education, and a strong Christian faith that
18 guided their lives, producing a gentleman with fortitude, honesty, integrity, and a strong
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1 moral compass; and
2 WHEREAS, Marcus Wren Jr. served his country in World War II, seeing service
3 against the Japanese in the Philippines and as a military police officer during the liberation
4 of prisoners of war in Japan; and
5 WHEREAS, the Serviceman's Readjustment Act, known popularly as the "G.I. Bill",
6 afforded returning veterans the opportunity to attend college at little or no cost, and of the
7 seventeen million war veterans, more than seven million used benefits to continue their
8 education between 1944 and 1956, when the initial term of the program expired; and
9 WHEREAS, following his service during World War II and with the financial
10 assistance afforded by the G.I. Bill, Marcus Wren enrolled in Louisiana State University,
11 graduated with a degree in Dairy Science, and returned to the family dairy farm located
12 twenty miles north of Minden near Dorcheat Bayou; and
13 WHEREAS, on June 30, 1951, Marcus Wren married the love of his life, Gay
14 Stewart, and the couple had five children, Marcus Wren III, Stewart, Ellen, Rusty, and Lovic
15 Wren, and in the summers they entertained many nieces and nephews who came to enjoy life
16 in the country; and
17 WHEREAS, in 1951 Mr. Wren's dairy merged with four other dairy farmers' and
18 formed the Sanitary Dairy and in 1964, that enterprise became the fifth dairy in the nation
19 and the first dairy south of Washington, D.C. to install a plastic milk bottle molding
20 machine, replacing glass milk bottles; and
21 WHEREAS, Mr. Wren has been active in civic affairs all of his life and served as
22 president of the Minden Economic Development Corporation, the Jaycees, the Minden
23 Chamber of Commerce, the Minden High School Quarterback Club, the Webster Parish
24 Farm Bureau, and the Louisiana Dairy Products Association, among others; and
25 WHEREAS, Marcus Wren and his beloved wife, Gay, were named the 1999
26 Louisiana Tree Farmers of the Year, having expanded their farm from a dairy to include
27 timber as a crop, and he was recognized with the Dairyman of the Year award given by
28 Louisiana State University; and
29 WHEREAS, Marcus Wren's leadership was recognized on both a state and a national
30 level, causing him to be named to serve on numerous boards locally on the state level and
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1 on the national level; and
2 WHEREAS, Mr. Wren has been a longtime member of the Minden Chamber of
3 Commerce and the Minden Lions Club, and was named Man of the Year by the Lions Club;
4 and
5 WHEREAS, true to his upbringing, Mr. Wren is a longtime member of the First
6 United Methodist Church of Minden and has served in numerous leadership capacities, such
7 as president of the Louisiana Methodist Foundation, district lay reader, delegate to the World
8 Methodist Conference in Rio de Janeiro, and a member of countless committees; and
9 WHEREAS, with a loving family, several successful business ventures, an
10 outstandingly active civic life, and a strong faith community in First United Methodist
11 Church of Minden, Marcus Wren has upheld the legacy of both of his parents' families and
12 has been a force for good in his community and his state, making his ninety-fifth birthday
13 a cause for thanksgiving and celebration.
14 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
15 does hereby commend Marcus Dee Wren Jr. of Minden, Louisiana, on the occasion of his
16 ninety-fifth birthday, January 29, 2019.
17 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
18 Marcus Wren Jr. in Minden, Louisiana.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Mary Dozier O'Brien.
DIGEST
SR 81 Original 2019 Regular Session Gatti
Commends Marcus Dee Wren Jr. of Minden, Louisiana, on the occasion of his ninety-fifth
birthday, January 29, 2019.
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