Jeanne Marks

Jeanne Marks
May 28, 1935 - December 18, 2022
Meridian, Idaho - Jeanne Myo Hwa Marks, née Bae, was born May 28,1935 in Sasebo, Japan in Nagasaki Prefecture. A successful businessman in Korea, her father was required to move his family to Japan during the annexation of Korea. There he worked in mandatory service to Japan. The family spent Jeanne's early years there under the assumed family name of Nagai, and had many adventures, including witnessing the bombing of Nagasaki. Despite much hardship, the family remained intact, and Jeanne had many good memories of herself at that time as a favored, strong-willed child.
After the Allied victory, her family moved back to Korea. Instead of a return to the ancestral home, they found themselves destitute. The daughters all went to work, including Jeanne. She worked first in a light bulb factory, then a broom factory. The family was very poor, and at one point, she fainted due to malnutrition, only awakening when she was being prepared for burial.
With the Korean War, American forces provided opportunities for better employment. Jeanne worked as a server in the Officer's Club at Hialeah Compound. There she met her husband of more than 62 years, Eugene "Gene" Marks.
Gene dedicated a career in service to military personnel as a Field Director for the American National Red Cross. This meant a great deal of travel for the family. The couple moved to Japan after their wedding, relocating to Monterey, CA, shortly before welcoming their first son, Donald. Daughter Lilinda and son Terry were both born at Larsen, AFB in Moses Lake, WA. A stint in Hawaii was followed by turns in Sacramento, CA, Denver, CO, Yokota AFB, Japan, Puyallup, WA, Cheyenne, WY, and in retirement, a final home in Meridian, ID.
Jeannie worked as a waitress in Denver at Tommy Wong's Islands, at the Hacienda in Yokota, and at the Puyallup Sea Dragon among others. In retirement, she and her husband ran DK Donuts in Boise, ID.
She spoke Japanese and Korean in addition to English, and was known for wit, humor, and kindness, as much as for style and refinement. Her taste in clothing, jewelry, having fun, and gambling and a penchant for Absolut Greyhouds, were renowned everywhere she went. Her sense of humor - including her gorilla imitation, Tarzan yell, and ability to juggle – surprised and delighted her many friends. Jeanne's welcoming nature and generosity were always at work. She was an inspiration, a source of strength, joy, and wisdom to all she knew, and she will be dearly missed. She is survived by her husband, Gene, her children Don, Lilinda and husband Erik, Terry and wife Laura, and her grandchildren Jeannie, Gwen, Alex, Ava and Harper.