Marvin Joseph Krupinsky

West Point, 1951

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Sel Graham on March 7, 2005:

Marvin Joseph Krupinsky Our buddy Marv died at noon on Thursday, the 3rd of March, 2005. All who knew Marv will miss him greatly. Marv and I entered West Point from opposite corners of our great nation. Marv was a skier from snowy Vermont. I was from warm sunny Texas?and don?t even remember seeing snow before I arrived at West Point. If central casting had been asked to cast a person for the role of a stereotypical Vermonter, Marv would have been chosen. He was quiet and soft-spoken?a man of few words. But those words were always right on target and often profound. One learned to pay attention to what Marv had to say. Marv was Captain of the ski team. Yes, the Captain! The only time I even saw skis was during the short mandatory ski orientation course on the gentle slopes of Trophy Point. Marv and I lived in the ?Lost Fifties? together, he in Company F-2 and I alongside in Company G-2. For those not familiar with the term ?Lost Fifties,? it is those divisions of cadet barracks which are remote and isolated from all other cadet barracks. It is the geographical equivalent of Alaska. Because of this separation, I think the cadets living in the ?Lost Fifties? got to know each other just a little bit better. The glossary of cadet slang in our plebe Bugle Notes defines the word ?hivey? as being bright in academic work and quick to learn. Marv was ?hivey.? This allowed him to go into the Corps of Engineers when we parted at graduation. We met fourteen years later in Kansas as students at the Command & General Staff College at good old Fort Leavenworth. Marv was by then a combat decorated engineer officer and math professor with multiple advanced degrees. I was a reserve officer employed by Mobil Oil. Isn?t diversity grand! The Krupinskys and the Grahams lived off-post in the same new apartment complex. It was so new that the parking area was not finished and the electricity kept going off. However, the Section parties on post were always great. Being with Marv and Jackie at Leavenworth was a memorable experience for Pat and me. What good times we had together in the sunflower state. A few years ago, Andy married Pamela, a young lady from Austin, Texas. The Krupinskys came all the way down from Maine to Texas for the wedding. Wow! What fun Pat and I had with the Krupinsky family. We even initiated granddaughter Aleana to Texas Coca Cola in the 8 ounce glass bottle. She carried some back with her since they don?t have those culinary refinements in the Northeast. We wished that the Krupinskys could have stayed in Texas longer. At the 50th class reunion, Marv and Jackie brought the entire Krupinsky family. What a treat seeing daughter Lisa, son-in-law Steve, son Andy, daughter-in-law Pamela, and granddaughter Aleana. A week before Marv died, he and I were talking on the phone about our plebe year versus the current plebe year. Grandson Jared, who is not on the ski team, has skied in Colorado, Canada and New England during his plebe year. I compared that with not leaving the post during plebe year except for the two football trips. It was then Marv confessed to me that he had gotten to go home plebe year because the ski team needed a jumper and he was a jumper. Gee, Marv, if I had known skiing would make a person so smart, I might have learned to ski. God bless you, Marv. Till we meet again. Sel Graham

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