By JERRY WOLFFE
Of The Oakland Press

Mackenzie “Mac” Marion isn’t going to be among the throng today when Barack Obama is sworn in as the nation’s 44th president. The 14-year-old Oxford youth died on Saturday — the day he was to fly with his father, Tom, 52, to Washington, D.C., to see Obama take the oath of office.

“It’s unbelievable,” Mac’s father said of his son’s death on the day he expected to leave for the inauguration. “He’s got a front-row seat now,” his dad continued. “We bought tuxedos and everything, and he’s going to get to wear it for one last time.”

In an article in The Oakland Press on Friday (see below) Mac, who was born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal disorder, talked about the historic event with great energy and enthusiasm.

“I think being at the inauguration will be really huge, because Obama is the first black man to become president of the United States,” Mac said.

Friends and family were at a loss and in shock after Mac died Saturday. Preliminary indications were Mac had a stroke and respiratory failure, his dad said.

“He had such a strong life force,” Tom Marion said. “Mac wasn’t disabled, not in his mind."

His sister Abby said, “Mac was afraid of dying, but Mac told me, ‘You know, Abby, I’ll be able to walk in heaven.’ ”

Mac had great faith in God and knew the Bible from front to back, his father said. He added his son never worried about life or using a power wheelchair to get around. He just gave his worries to God.

Mac told a reporter he planned to be an accountant and was proud he was nominated by his algebra teacher at Oxford High School to be a member of the National Young Leaders Conference. Only students with leadership potential are picked to join.

Mac’s mother, Gale, went in to check on her son Saturday and noted he didn’t seem normal. “Abby came in the bedroom and said we have to call 911,” Mac’s father said. An ambulance rushed Mac to Beaumont Hospital in Troy. He was then transferred to Royal Oak Beaumont and placed in the intensive care unit.

“He kept going downhill,” Tom Marion said. “Nobody could figure out what was going on. His heart was going crazy … beating up to 200 times a minute and then hardly beating at all.

"I never seen anyone with so much (medical) stuff on him,” his father said Monday. “Doctors kept telling us, ‘This is not good, not good, but we don’t know what’s causing it.’ ”

Marion said his son’s heart stopped and doctors tried for 30 minutes to resuscitate him, but Mac was gone.

“All my seven brothers, my parents — Jan and Jean Marion — my wife and Abby were there when he died,” Marion said.

“We can learn from Mac’s life. He didn’t worry. He lived it. He was a trouper. He was so wise for (being) such a young age.”

Marion said his wife “treated Mac like any other child.” His sister Abby and he were best of friends, the father added. Abby, 13, a year younger than her brother, helped Mac in every way she could, he said. “She picked him up when he fell and they were the best of friends.For a kid with what he had going, he was an angel," Marion said of his son.

Visitation for Mac is scheduled from 4 to 9 p.m. today and 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Potere-Modetz Funeral Home, 339 Walnut Blvd., in Rochester. A funeral service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home, with burial to follow at Guardian Angel Cemetery in Rochester.

By JERRY WOLFFE
Of The Oakland Press

A 14-year-old straight-A student at Oxford High School is going to attend the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

Mackenzie “Mac” Marion is a member of the National Young Leaders Conference. He and others in the organization are going to the inauguration, his father, Tom, said Thursday.

The organization offers students the opportunity to discuss current events and issues with top policymakers in Washington, D.C., analyze concepts and put them immediately to work.

“I think it will be really cool to see Obama sworn into office as president,” said Mac, making his Rochester Hills-based grandmother very proud.

His father, who works at the Mike Savoie Chevrolet dealership in Troy, will go with him to D.C.

Mac, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and will use a power wheelchair during his trip, wants to see “the inside of the congressional buildings, monuments and the Vietnam War Memorial,” he said.

He and his dad also are invited to attend a ball after Obama takes the oath of office as the 44th president of the United States, Mac said.

“We bought tuxedoes to attend the ball after the inauguration,” he said. “(Former Secretary of State) Colin Powell and (former) Vice President Al Gore are expected to be at the same event. “We’re going to leave on Saturday from Metro Airport and arrive late at night in Washington,” Mackenzie said.

They plan to return home Tuesday.

Mac and his father have rented a room at a Best Western motel in McLean, Va., a Washington, D.C., suburb.

Mac, who says he wants to be an accountant, got interested in politics when he attended a national youth leadership conference last March in Ypsilanti.

His algebra teacher recommended him for membership in the group, he said.

“I think being at the inauguration is going to be really huge because Obama is the first black man to become president of the United States,” he said.

He said he thinks his interest in politics will increase after he’s part of the historic event.

Besides enjoying mathematics, Mackenzie says, “I like to do a lot of things.”

He has a special interest in military aircraft, and likes playing video games on the Internet. His father also is enthused about the trip.

“I think it’s great. I hope President Obama does what he says he’s going to do” to fix the economy, Marion said.

“I didn’t vote for him, but I hope he can get the U.S. economy going,” he added. “He needs to put money in people’s pockets. Why not make any tax break retroactive to January 2008?”

As for the Michigan economy, Marion said, “If we think it’s bad around here now, if Chrysler shuts down it’ll get a lot worse.”

He says Mac has a great attitude and is “amazing.”

“Most kids that have the disability he has are in a wheelchair at 10, but not Mac.”

He said his son fell about a year ago and injured his knee, so he started using a manual wheelchair during the past year.

Mac said he’s taking the power chair to Washington because it’s more convenient and it can go 7.5 mph.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a fatal, degenerative disease which wastes away the muscles in the body.

Some medical progress has been made and many patients live into their 30s now, compared to their teens a few decades ago.

Marion, who has seven brothers, had a wheelchair accessible home built for his son, who has a sister, Abby, 13.

“We have a built-in pool filled with salt water” that requires a lot less maintenance than a freshwater pool, he said. Mac enjoys the pool and is able to walk a bit in the pool because of the buoyancy of the water.

Mac’s grandmother, Jan Marion of Rochester Hills, said $4,000 was raised so her grandson and son can go to the inaugural. The dealership alone donated $2,000, she said.

“It’s going to be quite an experience for Mac, and we’re honored he was nominated to attend the inauguration.”