John S. Marsalek, attorney at law of St. Louis, was born July 13, 1887, in the city which he still makes his home, his parents being John and Anna (Panuska) Marsalek. The father, a native of that part of Austria which now forms the republic of Czechoslovakia, was brought by his parents to America in 1852, when but a year old. The family home was originally established in Illinois, but after the close of the Civil war a removal was made to St. Louis. After finishing his education in the schools of Illinois and of St. Louis, John Marsalek engaged successfully in the retail shoe business and is still residing in St. Louis. His wife was born in St. Louis a daughter of William Panuska, one of the early settlers of St. Louis, who served in the Civil war as a member of Company K, First Regiment Missouri Infantry, a volunteer organization. His death finally resulted from illness contracted in military service. His daughter, Mrs. Marsalek, passed away December 5, 1910, in St. Louis, at the age of forty-nine years, leaving a family of three sons and two daughters.
John S. Marsalek, who was the third in order of birth, was educated in the public schools of St. Louis, attending the McKinley high school, from which he was graduated in 1907. He later entered Washington University in preparation for his professional career and was graduated in 1911 with the LL. B. degree. He worked his way through high school and also through the university. It was in 1910, the year prior to his graduation, upon passing the examination before the state supreme court, that he entered upon active practice and he has since continued in the general work of the profession, meeting with substantial success as the years have gone by. He has all the qualifications of the able lawyer-the keen, analytical mind, the broad vision, the capability of looking at a question from every standpoint and the power to apply accurately the principles of jurisprudence to the points in litigation.
On the 16th of September, 1912, in St. Louis, Mr. Marsalek was united in marriage to Miss Edith H. Woodruff, a native of De Soto, Jefferson county, Missouri, and a daughter of George E. and Anna (Evans) Woodruff, both of whom were representatives of old Pennsylvania families living in Missouri for the past quarter of a century. Mr. and Mrs. Marsalek have become the parents of two children: George Woodruff, whose birth occurred in St. Louis, July 31, 1913; and Edith Virginia, born in St. Louis, January 4, 1920. The family residence is at No. 4029 Humphrey street.
Mr. Marsalek was a member of the Legal Advisory Board of the Thirteenth Ward during the World war. In politics he maintains an independent course, voting for men and measures rather than party. He is a member of the Olive Branch Congregational church, is serving as chairman of its board of trustees and takes a most active and helpful part in the church work, doing all in his power to promote its growth and extend its influence. His entire life has been characterized by laudable ambition, by sterling qualities of manhood and citizenship and by allegiance to all those forces which make for progress and for public benefit.