Christophe J Marquis

Tampa, Florida

September 4, 2011

Age

Military

Rank

Unit/Location

Army

Pfc

1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division

Fort Wainwright, Alaska

Died Sept. 4 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany,of injuries sustained Aug. 27 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device.

Christophe Marquis
(January 25, 1971 - September 4, 2011

Homegoing celebration for Specialist Christophe Joel Marquis of Tampa, Florida died Sunday September 4, 2011 from wounds inflicted during a bombing in Afghanistan will be held Saturday, September 24, 2011 at 11:00 A.M. at the Springhill Missionary Baptist Church, 8119 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Blvd, with the Pastor, Reverend Eugene Garnett officiating. Interment will be Monday, September 26, 2011 at 11:00 A.M. at the Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, FL.

He was born in Strasbourg, France on January 25, 1971, to Francine Soucat and Joel Marquis. Specialist Marquis was a hero and friend to many.

He was preceded in death by his grandmother and first best friend, Suzanne Schultz Soucat.

Specialist Marquis leaves to cherish memories of him: his wife, Brittany S. Jackson- Marquis; son, Christopher Sebastien Marquis; mother, Francine Soucat; father Joel Marquis (Claudine); sister, Magali Naas; brothers, Sebastien Marquis (Blandine), Romain Marquis (Karine) and Benjamin Marquis; father-in-law Jimmy Jackson, Sr.; mothers-in-law, Oease Jackson and Cynthia Taylor; sisters-in-law, Beverly Young (Tony), Tanya Blue and Tatianna Rivers; brothers-in-law, Jimmy Jackson, Jr., Curtis Jackson (Cheryl), and Grady Brewster (Wanda); five loyal and loving best friends, Frederick Mouton, Thomas Charbonnier, Sebastien Jean, Emmanuel Georges and Pierre Heckmann, and a host of aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

There will be viewing from 5:00 – 9:00 P.M. and the family will receive friends from 6:00 – 7:00 P.M. Friday, September 23, 2011 at the Wilson Funeral Home, 3000 N. 29th Street, Tampa, FL 33605

From The Tampa Tribune tbo.com 09/07/11:

Tampa soldier dies from war injuries

By Howard Altman | Tribune Staff Howard
Published: September 7, 2011 | Updated: March 20, 2013 at 09:22 PM

A 40-year-old Tampa soldier died Sunday from injuries he suffered in an Aug. 27 explosion in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.

Pfc. Christophe J. Marquis was mortally wounded when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device, according to the Department of Defense. He died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

Marquis was married to Brittany Jackson-Marquis, according to his Facebook page. Jackson-Marquis is a billing specialist for Ashley Furniture Industries and attended Blake High School in Tampa, according to her Facebook page.

Marquis has been in the U.S. Army since April 2010, according to his Facebook page. He served in the French army as a staff sergeant from 1992 to 1997.

His last Facebook post was on Aug. 17 at 2:09 a.m.: "definitely Kandahar is much too hot in August."

Marquis was injured four days before his second wedding anniversary.

Funeral services will be Sept. 17 at Springhill Missionary Baptist Church, 8119 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Tampa. Visitation will be from 5 to 9 p.m. Sept. 16 at Wilson Funeral Home, 3000 N. 29th St.

Marquis joined the Army in April 2010 and graduated from Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Benning, Ga., according to the Army. He arrived in Alaska in February. His 4,000-soldier brigade deployed to Afghanistan in April for a one-year tour in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

From The tampa Bay Times tampabay.com 09/06/11:

Tampa soldier dies of injuries from bombing in Afghanistan

Jessica Vander Velde, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 6, 2011 1:34pm

TAMPA — Christophe Marquis was 39 when he joined the Army.

His wife was wary, but Marquis insisted it was the best way he could provide. She had just given birth to their first son, Christopher.

"It was the health insurance, the chance to have a house and just to not have to worry about anything," Brittany Jackson-Marquis said.

He said goodbye and left for basic training. Then he moved to a base in Alaska and shipped off to Afghanistan as a private first class in April. On Sunday, he died at a German hospital from injuries suffered Aug. 27 in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan, the Army said.

Jackson-Marquis, 22, said Army officials told her a suicide bomber set off an improvised explosive device at a checkpoint where Marquis had been working that day.

"Christophe was the closest one to him," she said.

She flew to Germany last week with their son, but Marquis was already on life support. She talked to him anyway.

She thanked him for little Christopher and sang their song, Happy Together. He had loved that song from the time they began dating — the only one for me is you, and you for me.

On Saturday, their son, who will turn 2 next week, waved goodbye to his father at the hospital. The next day, Marquis was taken off life support.

Marquis grew up in Strasbourg, France, and joined the French Army at 18. After five years, he decided he had enough, said his sister, Magalí Naas, 30. He moved to Normandy, where he owned two bars and drove a Porsche.

In 2007, he visited his sister in the United States for a skiing trip. Naas had studied theater in Virginia and was working at several theaters in the Tampa Bay area. During that trip, he decided he wanted to live near her.

In 2008 he moved to Seminole Heights and opened the 502 Sports Cafe in downtown Tampa.

Around the corner, Jackson-Marquis was working as a teller at the SunTrust bank. As a business owner, Marquis visited the bank often, but his visits soon became excessive, she said.

"He'd come in saying, "Ohhh, I need change for a dollar,' " she said. "I flirted back at him. I noticed him from the beginning, but I was sure that he had some beautiful wife and five gorgeous kids.

"Turns out he was actually like me: single with no children, waiting on each other."

They married in September 2009 and spent seven months together before he joined the Army. He missed his son's first birthday but came home in March.

Her husband's moments with Christopher were the best, Jackson-Marquis said.

"It was just giggle after giggle," she said. "Sometimes I wouldn't even know what was going on."

They planned to have a second child.

In April, when Marquis went to Afghanistan, his wife wasn't especially worried. She knew it was dangerous but was comforted by his continual stream of Facebook messages and e-mails.

But it tore her up when, several days after his death, she saw a message he had written earlier.

From now on, every morning I'm going to be on Facebook at 10 a.m. to talk to you.

"That hurt," she said. "It still hurts. It was his last promise, the last thing that he said to me."

She's in Strasbourg now with his family. They plan to have a memorial service today. His funeral will be at 11 a.m. Sept. 17 at Springhill Missionary Baptist Church, 8119 E Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., in Tampa

News researcher John Martin contributed to this report.