Joseph F. Marsalek, former chapter advisor to the UCLA Sigma Pi fraternity, died of lung cancer on Nov. 21, at age 76.
“He was a good father and a good man,” said Julie Wage, Marsalek’s daughter, adding that Marsalek had been a model father and husband, building a strong and healthy family.
A native of Southern California, Marsalek joined the UCLA family in 1949 after graduating from Long Beach Poly High School and remained involved in the university up until his death.
While attending UCLA, from which he received a degree in Bacteriology, Marsalek became involved in the Sigma Pi fraternity, a commitment that would last throughout his life and become an especially important affiliation during the last 25 years of his life that he spent as a chapter advisor to Sigma Pi.
“I think what impressed people most about Joe was his selfless nature,” said Dave Lusby, former president of Sigma Pi. “He was our chapter director for 24 years. Even when he was diagnosed (with cancer), he would still come down every week and talk to guys in the house and attend the meetings.”
While a UCLA student, Marsalek enlisted in the military and served in Japan during the Korean War before returning to Westwood to finish his degree, Wage said.
Shortly after graduating, Marsalek married girlfriend Barbara, another UCLA undergraduate, and began a career in the pharmaceutical industry as a sales representative and manager for Eaton Laboratories, where he worked for 16 years. Marsalek later left the industry entirely, and spent the majority of the rest of his life managing family finances and the Bradley Land Company, Wage said.
Marsalek’s time as a member of Sigma Pi and the guidance he received during that time helped him develop some of his strongest values and personal characteristics, said Jay Ross, Marsalek’s replacement as chapter advisor and president of the Upsilon Alumni Association.
“He did everything from teaching us how to speak English correctly to the best way to get a date with a girl on campus,” Ross said. Marsalek also made a point of instilling such values and characteristics in fraternity members by developing personal relationships with them.
“He was a very traditional guy. He told me to get a haircut every time I saw him,” Lusby said. “He joked as much as anyone in the house but he commanded a level of respect that was unrivaled in anyone else I’ve ever met.”
Among these values were a sense of civic duty and a personal initiative to give back to the house and organization that helped mold him into a good citizen and long-standing contributor to the UCLA campus and Sigma Pi. Marsalek’s contributions to the fraternity were commended by the national organization, which awarded him the Lyle Smith Outstanding Chapter Advisor Award. An award has also been created in his name, given to individuals of outstanding service to the national convocation.
Marsalek is survived by his daughter Julie Wage, her husband Thomas, and their two children Joseph and Alexander.