Jaroslav (Jay) Marik was born on April 27, 1933 in Plzen, Czech Republic to mother Emily (née Schejbal) and father Jan Marik. He was raised in Plzen, where he met the love of his life Jirina (Jean). They married in July 1963. Following required Czech military service, Dr. Marik attended the Charles University School of Medicine in Prague, graduating summa cum laude in 1963.
Concerned by the lack of opportunities and freedoms in communist Czechoslovakia, Jay and Jean escaped in 1964, with less than one hundred dollars and two suitcases. After spending time in a political refugee camp in Italy, the Mariks were allowed to enter the United States, where they joined Dr. Marik’s father Jan, a pre-war Czech business owner and democratic politician who had fled earlier during the communist regime.
