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JAY MARLATT WAS A GREAT DEFENDER OF LIFE

By Joe Frese

Jay Marlatt, a truly courageous and faithful pro-life warrior, was called to his eternal reward August 12, following a massive stroke.

All Defend Lifers send heartfelt love, sympathy and prayers to Lucile on the loss of her husband and to their loving sons, Jack and Jeffrey.

A Mass of Christian Burial for Jay was celebrated August 17 at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Catonsville.

Jay Marlatt was a diligent and faithful worker in the pro-life vineyard for many, many years.  It was on North Charles Street at the monthly protests of GBMC abortions that I knew him best.  

Jay was present at the very first protest at GBMC in July of 1991.

Unless he was very sick or out of town, he could always be counted on to be there on North Charles Street, opposite the GBMC entrance, every third Wednesday afternoon.

Jay and Sr. Nancy Hanson and others would be there to send the pro-life message to all mothers planning to end the lives of their unborn children.

He would never let himself be discouraged and would often recall Blessed Mother Teresa’s words:  “We don’t have to be successful; only faithful.”  And Jay was faithful.  

On January 15, 2003, he was one of seven who braved the cold to carry the message of life to the North Charles Street motorists.  

This was Jay’s last time to stand across from GBMC on behalf of the innocent unborn babies on the list to die by abortion:  he suffered his first major stroke soon after that.

For the next 2 ˝ years, while he tried to recover from this stroke, Jay traded in activist pro-life work for the status of prayer warrior for the unborn threatened by abortion.

Jay’s picketing and activism were firmly grounded in spirituality and guided by God’s many graces.  

On North Charles Street, I always made a point of moving within earshot of him whenever an objector to our pro-life message would stop her car (they were typically women) and march up to him to scream her “defense” of abortion.

It was clear to me that Jay’s answers were invariably straight from the Holy Spirit.  It was his mouth speaking the message to the hurting soul that God wanted her to hear.  Would that all of us be blessed to be so used by the all-loving God.

Protecting innocent, pre-born children from death by abortion is a noble act and should be hailed as such.

Well done, thou good and faithful servant.