Perhaps the only person in Bayonne who doesn’t know why Marvin Epstein will be honored at the Bayonne Jewish Community Center on Oct. 7 is Marvin Epstein.
“I Don’t know what they are honoring me for,” he said during a recent interview. “I don’t feel that I deserved to be honored, but I think it is beautiful that they are.”
The JCC will give him the “Distinguished Community Leadership Award.”
Epstein, who turned 85 during a brief hospital stay in early September, said the people who do the programming at the JCC deserve most of the credit and should get the honors.
Fortunately, other people in Bayonne understand the significant role Epstein played in helping to create and maintain the JCC, as well as good deeds performed in the general community.
“The award represents the numerous charitable activities and mayor involvement in a variety of civic and Jewish functions throughout Marvin’s adult life,” said Ruth Preminger, co-chair for the event.
Epstein’s roots grow deep in Bayonne. Born, raised and educated through high school in Bayonne, Epstein’s ancestors came to Bayonne in the 1880s. His wife, Janis, has roots in the Wigdor family, another one of the older families here.
After graduating Union College in Schenectady, New York, and service in World War II, Epstein became vice president of Bayonne Plumbing Supply and Branch Supply of Staten Island.
“I was an average student in Bayonne. I remember playing a lot of basketball at different schools. We had a sandlot team. I was always interested in sports,” he said. “I had a good solid family upbringing. I was one of six kids, three boys and three girls. I loved my community even then and when I went to college I began to realize I wanted to do something here. Then came World War II.”
Epstein did not go into combat, although came close to being sent off to fight in the Battle of the Bulge, one of the toughest conflicts in the European Theater.
“When I got out army we met at the Masonic Lodge on Lincoln Parkway. The leaders of that day – my dad and others – had the germ of an idea about building a community center.”
Epstein also took a leading role in the community, serving as president of Temple Emanuel, president of the Temple’s Men’s Club president of the Jewish Community Center, vice president and treasurer of the JCC, and the chairman of the Major Gifts Division for the building of JCC.
A good portion of Epstein’s life, Preminger said, was devoted to accomplishing things on behalf of the United Jewish Appeal Federation.
“He spent 60 years in top leadership roles continuously contributing for his community and for Israel,” Preminger said.
Perhaps his most enduring legacy is the survival and growth of the JCC, which he can be credited as one of the founding members.
“My dad a leader in the Jewish community in his time,” Epstein said.
Although still young, Epstein joined his father and other members in making the dream of a community center a reality.
“My dad was on the committee,” he said, recalling his own impassioned speech promoting its creation.
Because he was a young man then, he may have the last living memory of the early days and the meetings held in Jersey City and elsewhere that helped kick off the construction.
Epstein noted that the center was also made possible by support from the non-Jewish community, and over time, he has been involved with the Boys and Girls Clubs, the YMCA, and the Knights of Columbus.
In many ways, the center became a place for the whole community, and as the Jewish population began to move to other parts of the state, the center served Jew and non-Jew, bringing kids from the broader community in to take part in the programs offered here.
While Epstein said people have credited him for his role, he credits the team of people involved in the JCC.
“They opened this up to everybody and now we have a true rainbow power with a strong Jewish Community Center,” he said.
Preminger also credited Epstein with some of the past successes at what was then Bayonne Hospital where he served as a board member and vice president. He also served as fundraising chairman for building the new wing of the Bayonne Medical Center, and he remains an emeritus member of the hospital board.
“When I left the hospital was still very strong,” he said, making brief reference to BMC’s recent financial difficulties. “I spent more than 27 years there and it was wonderful environment. It makes me stick in my heart to see what it is going through. But Bayonne cannot be without a hospital. We need to save it.”
Over the years, Epstein played more and more significant roles in the broader community, serving as chairman of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, as a member of Mayor Collins Advisory Board, and as a member of the board of directors of the Susquehanna, Oswego rail system as well as other local and regional positions.
“But over and above all the activities, be they memberships or honors, there is the real true Marvin, a true and loyal friend,” Preminger said.