What he did share were his vast connections in his world of motorcycling.  Marcel seemed to know everybody and everybody knew him.  The common thread was that everybody has a story about things that Marcel did for them.

 The stories presented here came from Marcel himself when I interviewed him in 2005, for my book, in his truck on the way to the BSA show in San Jose.

Marcel explained that he answered an ad for a summer job at Yoshimura where he  packed boxes in a warehouse. When the bookkeeper quit, Marcel said: “I could do the bookkeeping” and went over to the library to read books on bookkeeping.   He got the job.  He started going to races and even lived with Fujio for a period of time.  “Fujio was like a brother to me” Marcel said.

“I just don't have a word to express my self.  It's just  too early for  him to pass away”

When Fujio returned to Japan in the early 1980s, Marcel went to work for Charly Young of Western Advertising.   Charly, Marcel told me, became his first mentor. As he got to know people in the industry, Marcel attracted more mentors. Joe Parkhurst founder of Cycle World,  George Clark of Peterson and Jim Lewis, pres of Malcolm Smith all saw something special in this young man and helped guide him to success.

In 1990, Marcel joined Fox.  As Sales Manager, Marcel rode a BMW across the country from dealer to dealer to get the company going. Dealers loved Marcel. In 4 years, Fox sales went from $3 million to $80 million.

Eventually, Marcel became a consultant to the motorcycle industry, setting up such events as Triumph’s Anniversary Cross Country Ride.  He helped to set up a series of Classic bike auctions, premiering at the Laguna Seca 2006 Moto GP.  At the time of his death, Marcel was planning auctions for 2007 and was involved with “Vintage Arte”, where he and his partner, Rick Weeden, were digitally reproducing posters for sale on the internet.  A lot of people are going to miss Marcel.

In 1998, Marcel married Christie Kelley.  For a few years, they and their daughter, Mackie, lived on a horse ranch in Ojai.  Recently, they moved to Templeton and were working to make this their dream horse ranch.

Marcel and I liked to attend events together. He was looking for a classic bike.   “They are simple and will slow me down”, he said.

Marcel is leaving a big empty hole in his beloved motorcycle family. He is survived by his wife Christie, their daughter Mackie, his father Devore Sr of San Diego, his mother Joan of La Brea, his brother Devore of Santa Cruz and his Uncle Gene and his wife Pam of Long Beach.