Meriting the Honor : Scout’s Determination to Help Others Will Earn Him Eagle Rank

With twice as many merit badges as required to become an Eagle Scout, all John Marisi needed to reach the Boy Scout’s highest rank was a project.

His Scout leaders encouraged him to do something quick and simple.

After all, they reasoned, the Downey teen-ager had undergone a number of brain surgeries in recent years, losing his hearing and the sight in one eye.

“Because of his condition, we’re all saying, ‘Come on, John, (do) a cleanup. That takes a day,’ ” said Ernie Wisdom, adviser of an honor Scout group to which Marisi belongs.

But Marisi wouldn’t think of it.

Battling tumors since he was 9, Marisi, who turned 18 Saturday, has not allowed his illness to stop him from reaching his goals or helping others.

In fact, Marisi has done anything but take shortcuts.

So for his Scout project, starting last fall, Marisi chose to spend eight months organizing and collecting donations of clothing for homeless American Indians on Skid Row.

He picked up donations from Griffiths Middle School and local churches, including St. Marks Episcopal and Downey United Methodist, until he had collected 2 1/2 tons of clothing.

“He had a couple of operations in the process. But he didn’t quit. He kept on going,” said David L. Rambeau, director of United American Indian Involvement Inc., a crisis intervention program in Los Angeles.

“He wanted to do something significant and to do it right. He has a strong sense of what’s right and what’s wrong,” Wisdom said. At one point, Marisi collected clothes while he still had sutures in his head where doctors had taken out part of his skull, Wisdom said. “To him, that was a matter of course.”

For Marisi, a member of Boy Scout Troop No. 2 in Downey, it was particularly important to complete a project of substance.

“People had been telling me for a long time, ‘You can’t do this. You can’t do that.’ And I said, ‘I’m going to do it anyway,’ ” Marisi said.

Scout leaders who gathered last month at an Eagle Character Board hearing were impressed with how much he had done. After a series of questions, which they asked in writing and he answered orally, they agreed he was Eagle Scout material.

Marisi wore his olive and khaki Scout uniform and red beret. Across his chest draped two sashes. One had 41 badges on it. Since then, he has earned number 42, giving him twice the number necessary to become an Eagle Scout.

Scout leaders said they expect Marisi to be officially named an Eagle Scout in a ceremony next month. At the time, he will join the 2% of Boy Scouts who achieve the honor.

“When I talked about this project, people told me, ‘You’ll never get it done,’ ” Marisi said. “I said ‘You’ll have to measure the results in tons.’ ”

Listening to him, Irv Halstrom chuckled. “He’s stubborn as a mule,” said Halstrom, a Griffiths teacher who has served as Marisi’s at-home teacher for five years, since frequent operations prevented the youth from regularly attending school.

Halstrom, who has become Marisi’s friend and mentor, described the youth as a gifted student. When Halstrom first met him, the youngster could still hear but was already battling neurofibromatosis, a condition characterized by the presence of tumors that grow again and again throughout Marisi’s body. Although they are benign, the tumors can damage vital organs, and doctors are forced to remove them.

Marisi said he does not know how many surgeries he’s undergone. “It’s to the point that I don’t even remember,” he said.

But he said he tries not to let his health get him down. A couple of years ago, he said, he underwent “a profound change” while visiting relatives in Europe. During a road trip with his uncle from Germany to a cathedral in Lourdes, France, Marisi said, “I prayed the whole last 100 miles continuously, and I asked God for a sign to see if he was going to help me.”

Marisi, a Catholic, said he attended Mass and drank and bathed in holy water that some believe has curative powers.

That was the last Mass he was able to hear, Marisi said.

It was a sign, the young man said, that he must learn to accept his illness. “I heard God saying to me, ‘I’ve heard you complain enough. Listen to people who love you.’ ”

Since then, Marisi said, he has become a more optimistic person and strives to remain active and independent.

Marisi, who lives with his parents, takes the bus everywhere. “And it drives his mother nuts,” Halstrom said.

Last month, Marisi and Halstrom attended the World Series in Philadelphia, courtesy of Make a Wish Foundation, which pays to fulfill dream trips for severely ill children. While in Philadelphia, they also toured Valley Forge, which “he really enjoyed because he’s a history buff,” Halstrom said.

The trip, Halstrom said, reinforced what his afternoons with Marisi have already taught him. “Life is precious. All of us need to realize we should try to live life to its fullest every day. Every individual should try to do their best, because we don’t know what lies ahead.”

Marisi, who often quotes things he has read, said he’s learned to cope with his illness.

“ Carpe diem . (Seize the day.) I believe in that,” Marisi said. “There’s an old Chinese proverb that applies here: It’s not so much the end of the journey that counts, but the journey itself.”