Del A. Marousek, 78, Former Forest Park fire chief
Del A. Marousek, who served as Forest Park’s fire chief between from 1951 to 1972, died on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 at age 78 at his home in Westchester.
Chief Marousek is survived by his wife Barbara and children Eileen (John) Pennington, Gary (Karin), Linda (Paul) Kuhn, Gail (Greg) Kuzel, US Navy Lieutenant Thomas (Michele) and Craig (Tina), who is currently a member of the Forest Park Fire Department.
Those who worked with Chief Marousek remember him for his intelligence, fairness and skill as a firefighter.
“During my time with the department, I saw five chiefs go in and out and he was by far the best,” said Frank Chiero, who served with the police department from 1969 to 1989.
“He was a disciplinarian with a big heart, and he was as fair as anybody could be, which is very important for a chief. He also was a tremendous firefighter ” he went into any fire and just had complete control. There really isn’t enough I could say about him,” he continued.
Current chief Steve Glinke said he, along with several current firefighters, had the privilege of knowing Chief Marousek through his son Craig. “Knowing him in that capacity it’s easy to say that any of us would have been proud to serve under Del when he was the fire chief in Forest Park,” said Glinke.
Chief Marousek, a World War II Navy veteran and lifelong member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7181 in Forest Park, had 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Services were held Saturday, April 29 at Hursen Funeral Home in Hillside. Interment was at Oakridge Cemetery.
Angeline Valentino, 85
Angeline Valentino, nee Casetta, of Forest Park, died last week at age 85.
Mrs. Valentino was the beloved wife of the late Herman J. Valentino and the loving mother of Wayne (Debbie), Gail (Nick) Karjaka and Dawn (Steve) Wiechert. She was the dear grandmother of Luke (Danielle) Valentino, Noah and Molly Valentino, Aleks and Lydia Karjaka and Dan and Natalie Wiechert, and the great grandmother of Caleb Valentino.
Mrs. Valentino was also the fond sister of Annabelle Stanchfield, Anton, Annis and Andre Casetta. Visitation was held on Monday, May 1 at Zimmerman-Ehringer-Harnett Funeral Home in Forest Park, and funeral services were held Tuesday to St. Bernardine Church, where Mass was held at 10 a.m. Interment was at Queen of Heaven Cemetery.
