A Fiddletown kid in the 1930s, the young Marcel Tiquet would repair old cars using junkyard parts. He lied about his age when he was 15 so that he could get his driver’s license and go work in the Oakland shipyards. His French parents called him “Kelo,” meaning “little package” because he was the baby of the family. (Most folks in the Shenandoah Valley still call him that.)
Marcel went to war when he was still 17, returning three years later. Hearing that Sam and Sim needed a hand for a few weeks, he pitched in. And stayed for life. He and his wife, Lola, raised their family at the ranch, and our family too, because someone had to be in charge. Our Great Aunt Simone’s second husband, Hollis Shaw, called Marcel “The Colonel.” When Hollis dug himself into holes, or inadvertently started fires, Marcel would inevitably set things right.
Marcel is the soul of this place. He worked at a sawmill for 42 years while managing Casino Mine Ranch. And he fought wildfires every summer on top of that. For so many decades he worked from sunrise to sunset, and often late into the night, then came back home to the ranch and chopped wood and worked some more.
And was never too tired to resist a good prank or crack a joke.
Today Marcel is the leader of our spirit tribe.
