In Support of Santa
James Marshall knows how to make kids smile. The retired special education teacher for Caddo Parish spent his career working with at-risk kids at Hamilton Terrace and Rutherford House Residential Treatment Center. He now stays busy creating fascinating glass skull art, playing Santa as a photographer’s model around the Shreveport area and bringing Christmas cheer to nursing homes in San Antonio, TX.
“I really love going to the nursing homes as Santa when I visit my daughter every year in Texas. My wife, who dresses in full regalia as Mrs. Claus, and I take our three Chihuahuas, Maggie, Missy and Mickey, around to visit the residents and it brings us so much joy,” James said.
Snell’s fits James with an Ossur Medial Unloader knee brace, shoe inserts and build ups to help treat his arthritis. “I had been to three other practitioners before I found Snell’s and Snell’s by far exceeds any of them in terms of quality and service: they are superb. I have a one inch difference in leg length on my right side and Rebekkah over there takes great care in how she customizes my shoes so that you can’t even tell there is a difference. And, my shoes don’t fall apart in a few months like they did when I went to other clinics. I have shoes now that Rebekkah did for me that are still in great condition years later. I also like the fact that I don’t have to wait for more than a few minutes when I go for my appointments and that they get me in and out as quickly as possible. Something you don’t see everyday anymore,” James noted.
James is a Vietnam veteran, who served in the 101st Airborne Division. He served in Vietnam 1968-1969.
He has been married to Melinda for 35 years and has two adult children and five grandchildren. He credits family with being the reason he is still around after serious complications from hip replacement surgery in 2014: “I just wasn’t ready to leave them yet.”