What’s your name and what fills your time?
Cathy Marcum and I was born and raised in Neptune Beach! I have moved away twice to Tampa for work over the years (approx. 2 years each time and last time was almost 20 years ago) but this is HOME! I love my family and my friends and have a crazy diligent work ethic and desire to serve my community. Both I learned through the examples set by my amazing parents, John and Bobbie Marcum.
Anything special going on for this summer?
As the Founder of the Live Like Larry Foundation, in memory of Larry Hobbs, my summers these days are spent organizing the Annual Birthday Bash for Childhood Cancer, which is held the first Saturday in August each year to remember Larry’s birthday. Larry was my “big brother” from my 7th grade year on, because I was best friends with Jenny Wooten and Larry was best friends with her big brother Chris Wooten… Larry and I never lost touch, even when I moved to Tampa for work back in the day, and after we lost him to bladder cancer 5 years ago, I founded the Live Like Larry Foundation and it has been my mission to keep his memory and legacy alive by honoring his wish to help kids with cancer. The event this year is Saturday, August 3rd from 12-6 pm at Lynch’s Irish Pub in Jax Beach, and we will have 4 live bands, huge raffle, silent auction, 50/50 and maybe even a few surprises! Our child this year is 13-year-old Seth, who is fighting brain cancer for the 2nd time.
Any hobbies or interests worth telling us about?
Well, between work and Live Like Larry, I don’t have a lot of extra time, but I love spending time with my furry babies, my friends… and may or may not be known to belt out a song or two at karaoke every now and then, lol. My goal right now is to continue to grow the Live Like Larry Foundation to help more than 1 child and their family each year… I would love to help more people!
What’s one thing (funny, different, cool) that many might not know about you?
Most people are surprised to find out that I am related to the original owners of Pete’s Bar! Pete was my great uncle, my mom’s uncle. As a child I was super close to Pete and Clara (Jensen) and remember my parents taking us over on Saturday afternoons most weeks to visit and thinking it was super cool to have a Coke at the “bar” in their sitting room… they were the tiny glass Coke bottles and we normally weren’t allowed to have soda, but we could when we went to see my aunt Clara and uncle Pete, lol. Pete was super funny, and I just remember always being happy around him.
How do you like living on the First Coast?
I love living here and would never (again) want to live anywhere else. I grew up in a place that people pay to come visit! Most people that live here take the ocean/beach for granted, it’s just normal to us to go to the beach every weekend… not everyone gets that right in their own back yard! But there is so much more just a short drive from the beach… we have so much to do without having to travel very far… springs and camping, football, both college and NFL, concerts, festivals, great restaurants… but at the same time, the beaches area where I live still has a “small town” feel… and I have seen this community come together time and time again to take care of one of their own. There is no other place like it!
Anything else that you would like to tell the community?
I would like to say THANK YOU to this amazing community! I have had the honor of being a part of so many wonderful organizations over the years… I was on the Board for the Beaches Boys and Girls Club, I have volunteered for Bands Against Breast Cancer in the past organizing their raffle and silent auction and have also volunteered for Fur Sisters, run by my friend Kelly Krehbiel, and other animal rescues… and have seen time and time again the community come together for a cause. But I have also seen them come together to help one of their own, even when a “charity” was not involved… most recently the community showed up BIG TIME for Nate Parker, to help him prior to losing his battle with cancer, and I watched how this community rallied around Larry, before we lost him too. I see them show up for other organizations like the Two Titmice Foundation, run by Ed Malin to help local women with breast cancer… and I still see it every year as they show up to support these precious kids with cancer that I have tried to help over the past 5 years through the Live Like Larry Foundation. This community is STRONG and never backs down when someone needs help… I am grateful to be able to call the First Coast home.
Cathy Marcum, Live Like Larry Foundation, Inc. (501c3) President and Founder (904) 233-7048 livelikelarryhobbsstrong@hotmail.com “Helping others to live Hobbs Strong”
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Mike is a native First Coaster and was a leading figure in surfing and skateboarding for most of his life. After promoting music for many years on the local music scene, Mike now brings a unique perspective to FirstCoast.Life as a contributing writer.
