Marie R. Veselik

12/08/2001

Marie R. Veselik, 98, of 320 Pittsfield Road died Saturday at Providence Care Center of Lenox. Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, on March 28, 1903, daughter of Vaclav and Zofie Choc, she attended schools there. She received a degree in philosophy and history of fine arts at the Charles University in Prague, and later her doctorate of national economy and sociology in preparation for the consular services. Mrs. Veselik was employed in the Export Institute for the Central Chamber of Commerce, an institution in Central Europe connected with the Czechoslovakian Department of Commerce. She was delegated by the institute to be an export manager for the newly formed national Cooperative for the Handicraft and Art Industry. Because of her position, she was able to protect artisans and factory workers from the Nazis' forced recruitment of Czech citizens to work in ammunition factories in Germany. She also helped Jewish manufacturers flee Czechoslovakia by certifying their trips abroad in the interest of the export business and the national economy. After the war, at the end of 1946, she was sent to the United States to conduct market research and to learn what Czech imports were best received here. In 1948, she became a naturalized American. Since 1966, she had visited her sister in Prague every three years. She settled in Lenox, where for 37 years she was owner and innkeeper of the Garden Gables Inn & Gift Shop. She retired in 1988. She was a member of First Church of Christ, Congregational in Pittsfield. Her first husband, Karel M. Veselik, died in 1930. She married Eric Firth in the late 1940s and divorced him in the 1950s. Her closest survivor is a nephew, Miroslav Cervenka of the Czech Republic. There will be no calling hours. A memorial service will be held in First Church of Christ, Congregational, East Street, Pittsfield, on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 2 p.m., with the Rev. Dr. Richard L. Floyd officiating. Following cremation, burial will be in the Czech Republic. In lieu of flowers, donations are suggested to First Church of Christ, Congregational, Memorial Fund in Mrs. Veselik's memory. The WELLINGTON FUNERAL HOME, 220 East St., Pittsfield, is in charge of arrangements.

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