Buc-ee’s, Travolta and the people we lost: Remembering 2023 on the MS Coast

Mary Perez
·2 min read
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Buc-ee’s made the Top 10 list of most read stories for 2023, as did a casino jackpot winner and John Travolta, while he was filming a movie at Scarlet Pearl Casino in D’Iberville.

It wasn’t all good news in South Mississippi. Drug overdoses and mass shootings also topped the list.

Looking back at the year reminds us of well-known business leaders, government officials and journalists who are among the many Coast residents who passed away this year.

Jimmy Buffett, born in Pascagoula on Christmas Day, kept close to his Coast roots as he performed around the world. On Labor Day Weekend, he left the Parrothead party he created to celebrate life. Former Gulfport Mayor George Schloegel, in addition to being a bank president and Coast mayor, was a champion of early childhood education.

Take a quick look back.

John Travolta, right, and Scarlet Pearl Casino owner Bob Granieri pose for a picture on the casino floor during filming of Travolta’s new movie “Cash Out” in D’Iberville and other South Mississippi locations in 2023.
John Travolta, right, and Scarlet Pearl Casino owner Bob Granieri pose for a picture on the casino floor during filming of Travolta’s new movie “Cash Out” in D’Iberville and other South Mississippi locations in 2023.

Most clicked stories for 2023

▪ Two dead after 6 Mississippi Coast high school students shot at Bay St. Louis house party

▪ 1 dead, multiple people injured in mass shooting at downtown Ocean Springs restaurant

▪ A woman played a 10-cent slot machine at this Biloxi casino. She hit the jackpot

▪ John Travolta is filming a new movie at a Mississippi Coast casino

▪ 5 people overdosed at a Mississippi Coast motel. The managers sold the drugs, police say.

▪ I-10 traffic from future Mississippi Buc-ee’s site to Hancock County backed up for hours

▪ New Orleans shipyard closes after 3 decades and moves operations to the Mississippi Coast

▪ Closed for years, a popular MS Coast buffet reopens in a new city. ‘It tastes like home’

▪ Longtime Mississippi Coast principal arrested for shoplifting at Walmart, police say

▪ When will construction begin on the first Buc-ee’s in Mississippi? Here’s the latest.

Singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett was born in Pascagoula and went on to become a renowned singer-songwriter, author and businessman with casinos, a cruise line and now retirement communities. He died Sept. 1.
Singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett was born in Pascagoula and went on to become a renowned singer-songwriter, author and businessman with casinos, a cruise line and now retirement communities. He died Sept. 1.

Well-known Coast deaths in 2023

January

▪ Frank Leach, former Jackson County Supervisor

February

▪ Alben Hopkins Sr., Gulfport attorney, Maj. General of MS National Guard and chairman of MS Gaming Commission -

▪ Marjie McFarland, real estate broker and former director of the March of Dimes

May

▪ John McFarland died two months after his wife. He was director of American Red Cross and former Sun Herald marketing director

▪ Dwayne Bremmer, reporter at Sea Coast Echo

▪ Robert Boyd, former Moss Point mayor

June

▪ Kennon Barton, beloved teacher at Ocean Spring High School and son of State Rep. Manly Barton

▪ Oliver Diaz, businessman who helped incorporate the City of D’Iberville.

August

▪ David Riemann, chairman of Riemann Family Funeral Homes-

September

▪ Jimmy Buffett, who was born in Pascagoula and kept his roots as he became a renowned musician and businessman

▪ Robin Fitzgerald Eyman, a long-time crime reporter at The Sun Herald

October

▪ George Schloegel, long-time president of Hancock Bank and former mayor of Gulfport

November

▪ Albert Necaise, an Ocean Springs attorney who quietly gave to those in need