Dr. Lionel Eleuterius

Lionel Numa Eleuterius, died at sunrise on Easter morning, Sunday, April 24, 2011. He was born on Christmas day in 1936, to Lionel Adam and Martha Tiblier Eleuterius in the Point Cadet area of Biloxi, Mississippi. Lionel attended Biloxi schools and had especially fond memories of his classmates in the 1956 graduating class. At Biloxi High School he received the DAR Good Citizenship award and was voted Most Handsome. As a teenager he and his brothers helped his father in the family boat building business. After high school graduation he attended Perkinston Junior College and in 1988 was inducted into the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Hall of Fame. In 1960 he attended basic training for the Mississippi Army National Guard and served for 18 years achieving the rank of major. At the time of Hurricane Camille in 1969 he was commander of the National Guard unit in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. After basic training, Lionel worked at the United States Forest Service in Gulfport, Mississippi. Lionel then completed his bachelors and masters degrees in biological sciences at the University of Southern Mississippi and later his doctorate in Botany at Mississippi State University. In 1968 he was hired by Dr. Gordon Gunter at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. He established the first Botany Research Section at the Lab and carried on extensive research on marsh plants and seagrasses. Dr. Eleuterius wrote and published over 200 scientific publications on all areas of botany with emphasis on marine botany, including his book, Tidal Marsh Plants. He is remembered best for his pioneering work in transplanting seagrasses in the Mississippi Sound and his planting of seaoats for erosion control along the beaches of Mississippi. He always credited his grandmother, Frances Bosarge Tiblier, for instilling in him his love of plants because she included him at a young age in her gardening. After retiring from the Gulf Coast Research Lab, Dr. Eleuterius operated Wetlands Inc., an environmental consulting business. Lionel was an artist, an avid reader, gardener and builder. He especially enjoyed doing genealogical research on his Greek and French ancestors. Lionel’s most precious time in his life was the years he spent with his grandson Samuel gardening and building wooden toys, especially model boats. Survivors include his wife of 41 years, Kathryn Poole Eleuterius, sons Christopher Eleuterius of Ocean Springs, Lee Eleuterius of Clearwater, Florida, and Trent Broadus of San Antonio, Texas. He is also survived by his beloved grandson, Samuel Christopher Eleuterius of Coden, Alabama and newborn granddaughter, Selena Lucia Eleuterius. Other surviving family members are his brother Wayne Eleuterius of Bossier City, Louisiana , sister Ann Moran of Ocean Springs, a special cousin, Joan McConnell of Ocean Springs, and many other relatives here on the Gulf Coast. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Charles Eleuterius and sister Janis Ingalls. Visitation will be on Thursday, April 28, 2011, from 9 am until 10 am, with a 10 am chapel service, all at the Ocean Springs Chapel of Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Home. Lionel will be buried on the family farm, Mon Ciel, north of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. View and sign register book at www.bradfordokeefe.com.