| How It All Began
In 1938, America had been in the throes of the Great Depression for nine long years. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President. Minimum wage was 25 cents an hour, and most Americans were glad to get it. Germany invaded Czechoslovakia and people talked nervously of the possibility of war. And Orson Welles terrified half the nation with his all-too-real radio drama, “War of the Worlds.”
 That same year, 18-year old John L. Marek left his home and family behind on the farm near Yoakum, Texas, heading for Houston with hopes of bettering himself.
 In 1938, gypsum wallboard products was a new way to finish the interiors of houses. John hung his first “rock” that year and saw firsthand how this new product would change interior construction forever. Soon, with brothers, Bill and Ralph, a company was founded- Marek Brothers Sheetrock. It was an instant success.
But the Mareks’ budding business was soon interrupted by World War II. Shortly after the bombs fell on Pearl Harbor, the Marek dream was put on hold as the brothers answered their country's call to duty.
All three Mareks survived the war and returned to a Houston that was booming. Marek Brothers Sheetrock joined the boom and helped build Houston into the major metropolitan area it became in the mid-1950s. The Marek name grew, too. Builders had come to rely on the company’s reputation for quality and reliability.
In the 1960s, the Mareks expanded into commercial interior construction. Already the largest and most respected residential contractor in the city, the Mareks soon made their mark in the commercial field as well.
 The 1970s saw the Marek Family of Companies soaring to new heights. As the residential company maintained its leadership role, the commercial division took off—opening offices in San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas, Texas. By the end of the decade, Marek craftsmen had finished out enough office space to fill a building almost five miles high.
When the 80’s arrived with plunging oil and gas prices, the Mareks looked outside Texas for new opportunities, opening an office in Atlanta, Georgia, and helping build dozens of multifamily projects from Florida to New England.
Today, the Marek Family of Companies continues to be the leader in residential and commercial interior construction, distinguished by its devotion to the ideals of John, Bill and Ralph—striving to be the best, commitment to excellence, and attention to detail.
The Marek Companies are today a family of employees continuing the dream of three farm boys whose word was as good as their work. In 1938. Today. And tomorrow.
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