Hall of Fame
Marana, a native of Stanbaugh, Michigan, and a graduate of Stanbaugh HS, lettered four seasons (1946-49) on Wayne State's football squad. He was a four-year starter at offensive tackle, and a three-year starter at inside linebacker. Former head coach Lou Zarza, whom Marana played for his senior season, cited Marana as "one of the best lineman ever to play" during his tenure.
When Zarza took over the Tartar program for the 1949 season he named Marana and Edward Demerjan co-captains for that season. Marana is one of the few Tartar offensive linemen ever to serve as team captain. Though Marana was a linebacker for his last three seasons, no statistics were kept for defensive players in those days. There are no individual statistics kept for offensive lineman. Marana was selected by the University of Detroit to the Titans' 1948 All-Opponent Team.
Marana was recruited by fellow Upper Peninsula-native and WSU Athletic Hall of Fame member Joel Mason, who was then an assistant football coach at Wayne. During Mason's second season as head men's basketball coach, 1949-50, Marana served as the team's manager and was rewarded with a varsity letter.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Marana began his collegiate career after serving his country during World War II. After graduating from Stanbaugh HS in 1944 he joined the U.S. Navy, and was assigned to the Navy's Amphibious Forces Unit. He was on an amphibious landing ship that ferried U.S. Marines during the Okinawa Invasion. After his discharge in August 1946 he met up with Mason, who convinced him to come down to Detroit and play for the Tartars.
Marana earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Health Education in 1950, and that summer he had a try-out with the Los Angeles Dons of the now-defunct All-American Football League. After he left the Dons Marana went on to play for the Detroit Tars, a semi-pro team, for several seasons.
He began a long-time teaching career at West Bloomfield Junior HS in 1950, and began his coaching career by assisting former Tartar football player Ed Rutherford in football at Detroit Western HS in 1950-51. From 1952- 1956 Marana was head football coach at Center Line HS. One of his players, Larry Bielat, was a high school All-American who went on to play at Michigan State and currently is an assistant coach at MSU.
In 1957 Marana returned to his native Upper Peninsula to take over the coaching reigns at Ispheming HS for the next seven seasons before retiring in 1964. Also a teacher at Ispheming, he moved to the administrative side in 1964 as athletic director and assistant principal. In 1979 he left Ispheming to become assistant principal at Kingsford HS, where he retired in 1989. Marana currently serves as a substitute teacher in the Kingsford system.
For over the past three decades Marana was also a highly respected prep basketball and football official.
In addition to his degree from Wayne, Marana earned a Masters of Arts in High School Administration from Northern Michigan in 1965, and he has taken several post-graduate classes.
Marana and his wife, Anita, reside in Kingsford, Michigan, and are the parents of two sons, Mark and Peter, and three grandchildren. Mark is currently head football coach at Northern Michigan, a member-institution of the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference along with Wayne State, and Peter is a dentist in Norway, Michigan.
