Former Nicholls State, Baltimore Colts and New Orleans Saints wide receiver and Colonels athletics hall-of-famer Marvin Dumas died Aug. 24 in a car accident. The Vacherie native was 46. According to the Bellingham Herald, Dumas and his daughter Jeralyn were driving northbound on Interstate 5 in Mount Vernon Wash., where Dumas lived, when he hit a truck parked on the left shoulder.
Jeralyn was treated and released from a Washington hospital last week without any serious injuries.
Following his years at Nicholls, Dumas was inducted into the athletics Hall-of-Fame. He then went on to play professional football for the New Orleans Saints and the Baltimore Colts.
Former Colonels head football coach Bill Clements, who coached Dumas at the time he was playing, said Dumas was someone who always did what he was told.
“Marvin was one of those kids that came to play football,” Clements said. “You hardly knew he was around because he went to class like he was supposed to, and he never got into any trouble. He was a solid citizen, the type of kid you would want playing for you and others playing with.”
In addition to football, Dumas also served in the Army as a member of the 377 Theater Support Command and 469th Finance Group in New Orleans.
Shelby Hypolite, counselor/recruiter for the upward bound program at Nicholls, worked with Dumas and said he was someone everybody could get along with.
“He was an excellent athlete and an even better person,” Hypolite said. “He was very happy-go-lucky.”
Clements agreed.
“He was a solid citizen and always kept a smile on his face,” Clements said.
The funeral was held Aug. 30 at Our Lady of the Peace Catholic Church in Vacherie, and the burial was in the church cemetery.
Marvin is survived by his wife Cynthia, two daughters, one son and one granddaughter.
Friends of Dumas can share their memories of him in an online guest book at www.nola.com/obits. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Marvin J. Dumas Memorial Fund in care of Cynthia G. Dumas at First American Bank and Trust, account #4053934.
