Leo Marier

Leo Marier (June 1, 1944 – November 11, 2025)

Lieutenant Colonel Leo Thomas Marier, United States Marine (Ret.), of Herndon, Virginia, was called home after a life of service at sunrise on Veterans Day, November 11, 2025. He is survived by his beloved wife Doris “Dottie”, his children Theresa Weiler (Ron), Joe (Monica), Lisa Gullickson (Brad), John (Kenzie), and 8 grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister Camille Grant (Ralph), and brothers Vince (Christy), Greg (Cindy), Steve, Fran (Jaci), and Jim Marier. He is preceded in death by his brother John, and his parents Treffle Joseph (Joe) Marier and Emma LaCasse Marier.

He was a devoted parishioner and choir member at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, Reston, Virginia, and served as Deputy Grand Knight in the Knights of Columbus, Our Lady Of Guadalupe Council 12127.

People who know Leo know he has done it all. He served his country, raised his family, worked as a defense contractor, and volunteered at Herndon Centennial golf course. He cherished the gift of life from conception to natural death. He was a long standing member of the Pro-Life group, and through it all, he sang, singing bass or tenor as needed, with the St. John Neumann Choir for thirty-nine years.

Leo Thomas Marier was born June 1, 1944, to Treffle Joseph Marier and Emma LaCasse Marier of Hugo, Minnesota. After helping at the family feed mill and farm during his primary school years and making the high school golf team as an eighth grader, he was educated as a seminarian, attending Our Lady of the Snows and the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Discerning a different calling, he was later drafted in 1970. Like his father, drafted during World War II, he wouldn’t have passed the eye exam without creative intervention; so Leo memorized a line. The draftboard also overlooked his congenital heart defect, but as he often noted, “they weren’t looking too close.” Over his career, he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, serving in the Mediterranean; Okinawa, Japan; the Persian Gulf and in the United States, stationed in Hawaii; Oceanside, California; and Virginia, ensuring that his career path matched his vocation as husband and father along the way.

After his service concluded in Virginia in 1993, Leo accepted the first job he interviewed for, with GTE Government Systems, Chantilly, Virginia. The company changed names and ownership over the years, to DynCorp and then to CSC, but he continued his work in the same building with the same corner office, serving his country in the private sector until retirement.

After retirement, he volunteered as a ranger at Herndon Centennial Golf Course, took hikes in Great Falls and Riverbend Park with his beloved wife Dottie, and hosted weeklong 18-people-in-one-house family vacations in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. He was a golfer, who achieved an ace-in-one on November 2nd, 2019. He would calm his mind, take his swing, track his shot, and walk forward to wherever it fell.

He loved Virginia’s roller coasters, he loved jokes and stories, and he always appreciated good table manners. He loved his wife immensely, and he loved and took pride in his sons, daughters and grandchildren.

Like his patron, Saint Joseph, he went near and far for the safety of his family and his homeland, “never hesitating to sacrifice for those entrusted to him,” and for that he was deeply loved.

His legacy is secure. May he rest in peace.