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Marion Zupan Zrelak

Selkirk, NY

1929-2025

Interviewed at Bethlehem Public Library on March 13, 2025 by Eric Bryant w/ Bill Ketzer, Susan Leath & Tim Beebe present. Also attending was Marion’s nephew John Zupan.

Marion was born on April 16, 1929, in Wappingers Falls (Dutchess County), currently making her BOHP’s “longest serving” narrator. Her father Nicholas Zupan (1894 – 1972) was of Slovakian descent and was born in Croatia, which was formerly Austria-Hungary, and later Yugoslavia. He was one of 17 children (that is not a typo). Marion’s mother Ana Murjic Zupan (1904-2008) came from the same village and while the families knew each other, her parents were not acquainted in their homeland. Instead, he wrote to family friends in Austria and asked if their daughter would come to the United States and marry him, and in 1922 she did. By the early 1930s they relocated from Wappingers Falls to South Bethlehem.

Our narrator had two older brothers, Michael (1924-2018) and John (1926-2018) and a younger sister Catherine (1933-2019). The children were born in different parts of NY because her father moved often for work. A construction worker by trade, Marion’s father built the family house on Bridge Street, and five others. There were very few houses on the street – still a dirt road at the time – which initially caused Ana to refuse to move into the house!

Nicholas established the family business, Zupan Lumber Mill, in South Bethlehem in 1948, a year after Marion graduated from Ravena High School. The business initially sold firewood and later lumber. Her brothers helped with the business and Marion’s sister Catherine (an Albany Business School graduate) took care of the accounting. Marion graduated from Mildred Ellie and handled business correspondence for her father.

In April 1951, she married John Zrelak (1924-1999), whose coal-mining family originally settled in the Pittsburgh area after emigrating from either Czechoslovakia or Hungary.  Marion was active in St. Mary’s Church and the Bethlehem Historical Association, and did senior outreach for more than 30 years.

It was a great privilege to speak with Marion, who passed away on November 19, 2025 after almost a century of American experience. She lived a full life, serving her family and community with humility and grace.  We hope you enjoy her memories of Bethlehem here.

Family Photos