Mariean Zastrow Northrup

Sumter, SC…………………. Mariean Zastrow Northrup, age 93, widow of John A. Northrup, died on Saturday, August 26th, 2023, at Covenant Place.

In 1949, a bright 19-year-old Wisconsin farm girl, born in Bonduel and raised in Green Bay, enlisted as one of the very first few-thousand members of the newly created Women in the Air Force (WAF) program. Mariean (pronounced Mary-Ann) Helen Zastrow went on to serve her country in the U.S. Air Force through 1955. Over the course of her career, she attained the non-commissioned officer rank of staff sergeant and was stationed in Newfoundland as a radio operator during the Korean Conflict. She was later assigned as a Morse Code instructor at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi, where she met her true love, John A. Northrup. They married in 1954 and raised their family at multiple Air Force bases throughout the United States, Germany and France, before settling down in Sumter in 1967.

Mariean was a member of the Shaw AFB Chapel for 50 years, where she served many years as a Sunday school teacher. She was an active member in the League of Women Voters and held various positions at the local, state and national levels. She served more than 10 years on the Sumter County Board of Voter Registration and Elections and was a proud member of the Sumter County Democratic Party. In 2010, she moved to Covenant Place and later joined Aldersgate United Methodist Church.

Mariean is survived by: two sons, Kerry J. Northrup (Jade) of Rockland, ME, and Kurt R. Northrup (Carol Ann) of Warner Robbins, GA; four daughters, Kristeen N. Booker (Randy) of Asheville, NC, Korene N. Smith of Lexington, SC, Kathryn N. Long Goldstein (Mark) of Sumter, SC, and Klaryce N. Bell (David) of Negley, OH; ten grandchildren, Oliver Northrup, Michael Northrup, Matthew Northrup, John Northrup, Morgan Booker, Kyle Booker, Cameron Smith, Liam Smith, Bethany Long, and Maryn Long; four great-grandsons, Brooks and Brayden Smith, Orion Adams and Clark Northrup; and the extended Zastrow family from Wisconsin.

She was preceded in death by her parents, William and Esther (Woldt) Zastrow, her husband, two sisters, Marcella Hartwig and Dorothy L. Zastrow, One brother, Norman Zastrow, and two sons-in-law, Tony Long and Daniel Smith.

A funeral service will be held at 2:00pm, Wednesday, August 30th, 2023 at Aldersgate United Methodist Church with the Rev. Laura Whitt officiating. Burial with full military honors will follow at Evergreen Memorial Park Cemetery.

The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service from 1:00-2:00pm, Wednesday, August 30th, 2023 at Aldersgate United Methodist Church.

Memorials may be made to the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 840692, Dallas, TX 75284-0692, WIMSA (Women in Military Service Association) of Arlington, 200 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 400, Arlington, VA 22203 and Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 211 Alice Dr., Sumter, SC 29150.

You may go to www.bullockfuneralhome.com and sign the family's guest book.

The family has chosen Bullock Funeral Home for the arrangements.

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