MARANA, Ariz. — Thanks to years of hard work and dedication of Korean War Veteran Paul Marsh, Marana is home to the Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery.Friends, family and members of the community gathered to surprise Marsh and thank him for making the cemetery a reality.
“I was amazed, absolutely amazed,” Marsh said. “This was supposed to be a small group and I took a look around the place and there are 300 people there. That’s no small group.” Prior to the completion of the cemetery in Marana, the nearest veterans’ cemeteries to the Tucson area were in Sierra Vista and Phoenix.
Margo Susco is a friend of Marsh and his family and is also the commander of the Pima Chapter of Korean War Veterans. She can recall when Marsh first got the idea for the cemetery. “He was officiating and said, ‘Wait a minute. We don’t have a veterans’ cemetery here.’”The Kai Family Foundation donated 42 acres to build the cemetery on. Necessary government funding was then secured from the Federal Veterans Administration.