Louis Joseph Maurin was born in 1891 in Reserve Louisiana. His father, Fortune Maurin came to America in 1875 from France; and settled in Reserve. He took up the baking trade and soon became a master baker. In 1884 he married Desiree Bossier.  Louis had three younger brothers, Fortune(Jr.), Horace, Etienne, and two older sisters,  Denise, and Lena.  He began his education in 1898 at a small school in Reserve. Then he attended Infant Jesus College in Gretna. After outgrowing the age limit, he went to Holy Cross College in New Orleans. He boarded at both schools. At age fourteen, he left school to help his father in the bakery. The people he met in school helped shape his life of service to his community. In 1914, he married Emma LeBrun, the daughter of  Joseph C. LeBrun and Maria Montet LeBrun. They had seven children;  Elaine, Marjorie, Louis Joseph(Jr.), Marie Therese, Gloria Mae, Joseph LeBrun, and Jo Anne. When Louis was four years old, his father bought him a "magic lantern machine" which was a type of projector, and that planted the seed that became "Maurin's Theatre".