By Dan Israeli
Stephen DeMarco, 83, and Margaret Klejmont, 85, will be front and center in the lead car, traditionally a shiny red convertible, as the parade makes its way through the West End, and then down Park Avenue, in front of an anticipated crowd of 5,000.
Formation will begin at 9 a.m., and the parade will start at 9:30 at the corner of Beech Street and Ohio Avenue. It will turn north on New York Avenue to Park Avenue and then head east, where a crowd in front of City Hall will observe a memorial ceremony.
The parade's chairman is John Radin of American Legion Post 972. Radin asked both DeMarco and Klejmont to be grand marshals. "I did it very scientifically this year," Radin joked. "I decided to get two marshals - one man, one woman, with one from the East End and one from the West End."
DeMarco, a resident of Kirkwood Street, has lived in Long Beach since 1932, when he moved here from Brooklyn with his family. In the war he served in the Army Air Force as a crew chief on a P-51 plane in Europe.
After returning to the states, DeMarco worked as a butcher at the DeLuxe Meat Market, a family-owned business in Long Beach. He retired in 1985 but remained involved in the community, as a president of the Holy Name Society, the Kiwanis Club and the American Legion. He is also a member of the Sons of Italy and VFW. DeMarco has been married to his wife, Virginia, for 52 years, and they have three children and three grandchildren.
For DeMarco, the Memorial Day Parade is symbolic of what he and others who served went through, and how too many never returned to tell their stories. "I think we are entitled to an event like this," DeMarco said. "It's a day of remembrance for our lost veterans. They all did their share of duty and should be recognized."
Like DeMarco, Klejmont, the former Margaret Lang, was also born in Brooklyn, and moved with her family to Long Beach in 1931. She attended West School, and went on to graduate from the old high school on Magnolia Boulevard. Before the war, she worked at Woolworth's on National Boulevard, and then the New York Telephone Company on Park Avenue.
Deciding she wanted to serve her country, Klejmont joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1944. She was sent to the U.S. Naval Air Station in Vero Beach, Fla., where she worked in the Air Control Center until 1946. In Vero Beach she met her future husband, Henry Klejmont, a sailor who became a Long Beach police officer. They had been married for 61 years when Henry died last June.
Klejmont said she enjoyed her time in the service, and even got the chance to fly in a fighter jet.
In Long Beach she and Henry had four children, and he worked for the Long Beach P.D. for 25 years. After a 40-year career at Long Beach Medical Center, Klejmont retired in September.
A participant in several past Memorial Day parades as both a Girl Scout troop leader and an American Legion member, Klejmont said she was excited about riding in the lead car. "I feel wonderfully honored," she said. "On Memorial Day I think of all those fellas who were killed. It's hard to express the feeling, but the parade is a great thing to do for all those lost veterans."
The memorial ceremony will be emceed by City Manager Edward Eaton, and will include an invocation by the Rev. Donald Beckmann of St. Ignatius Church and a benediction by Rabbi Bennett Hermann of Temple Emanu-El. Expected guest speakers include Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, County Legislator Denise Ford and City Council President Leonard Remo.
The parade and ceremony are sponsored by the Joint Veterans Organization of Long Beach, which includes the American Legion, American Veterans (AMVETS) South Shore Post 100, VFW Post 1384 and Jewish War Veterans Post 666.
Radin said that although the parade isn't as big as it used to be, he hopes residents will remember what Memorial Day is all about. "We try to make sure it remains a day of remembrance, not just cookouts and barbecues," Radin said. "It's important to remember what veterans have done for us in the past, and what those serving now are still doing. The parade reminds people to show their respect. There are young people serving now that also need our respect. So when you see someone wearing that uniform, just remember to say thank you."
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