Marilyn Ann Marks

Marks, Marilyn Ann
October 3, 1945 - October 11, 2010
Marilyn Marks, a pioneer in science education for children, died at her home in Pacific Palisades October 11, 2010. She was 65 and succumbed to a brain tumor.
After her own children started school, she employed her Master's Degree and biology background to re-invent herself as an elementary school science teacher.
In response to a public outcry for introducing science early in the educational process, Marilyn devoted her remaining four decades to that mission. She successfully transferred her passion for science education to two generations of K-6 grade students (and their teachers) at Crossroads, at all three elementary schools in Pacific Palisades, at Valley Beth Shalom and Heschel Day Schools, at the California Museum of Science and Industry; and finally at Warner Elementary in Westwood.
Her enthusiasm for teaching science to elementary school students never waned.
She helped develop curriculum at the California Science Center, and she was a curriculum reviewer for the National Science Teacher's Association. She received an Eisenhower Fellowship in 1989 and a National Teacher Award in 1999. For 15 years she ran a consulting company ("Workshop on Wheels") that brought science education to outlying schools. When she realized that a large population of Hispanic students needed to be reached, she learned Spanish so she could help them. She had a longstanding relationship with Creative Teaching Press, for whom she authored many books and pamphlets.
She was born Marilyn Ann Frank and educated in the public schools of Houston, Tx. She attended Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University, the University of Houston, and Cal State Long Beach. She married in 1966 and came to Los Angeles in 1969, when her husband started post-doctoral specialty training in the UCLA system.
Marilyn was equally devoted as nurturing matriarch of a loving family. She is survived by her husband of 44 years, Leonard Marks, Professor of Urology at UCLA; by her children, Michelle, a graphic designer in New York City, and Steven, a computer scientist in San Jose; by her grandchildren, Lila and Noemi Maller; and by her two brothers, Dr. Stuart Frank of Tampa, FL and Dr. Larry Frank of Wichita, KS.
In a world full of takers, Marilyn was the consummate giver, a smart, kind, gentle soul whose greatest pleasure came from helping others. She lived to make a contribution, and on an individual level, many times over, she did. All who knew her mourn her premature passing.
Interment will be at Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary in Culver City.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the UCLA Brain Tumor Research Fund or The World Wildlife Fund.