ANDREE MARKS

MARKS--Andree Maria. After spending four happy days with her family on Martha's Vineyard, Andree Maria Marks, nee Polturak, died on 21 August, 2024 of sudden cardiac arrest. Defying her 93 years, she lived independently in Santa Monica, California, actively taking part in Los Angeles' cultural offerings and a plethora of Santa Monica College's Emeritus courses across a wide variety of subjects; and benefitting from the proximity of her daughter and best friend, Amanda Marks, and a remarkable friendship crafted "in the last act" with her partner, Jim Curley. Andree's long life took her right across the turbulent middle decades of the 20th century. Born in Vienna on 30 July,1931 to Polish parents, the Nazi invasion of Poland in September 1939 cast her on a long trajectory, occasioned by the death of her father, a Polish Reserve Officer, in the first month of the war. After fleeing east across Poland, Andree with her mother, sister and grandparents undertook a hazardous trip north in the middle of the war to Vilnius, Lithuania and subsequently to Stockholm, Sweden, where they arrived in 1940. Andree attended Franska Skolan, remaining in active contact with her classmates until the very last week of her life. As Andree passed through adolescence, the family dug deep Swedish roots, now three generations deep thanks to the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of her sister Renee who settled in Sweden, while remaining close to the many cousins scattered across Europe by the war. A second chapter of her life opened in 1948 when she emigrated to the United States to attend university at Upsala College, obliged to spend a weekend at Ellis Island in New York Harbour because of her arrival on Friday afternoon of Labor Day weekend. The dispiriting experience nonetheless provided fodder for a freshman literature essay cheekily entitled, "The Rear End of the Statue of Liberty." Moving to New York City after college, Andree lived in Gramercy Park and worked for Pan Am and American Express, a natural career for someone fluent in six languages and an eager traveller. New York also introduced her to Charles Marks, father of her two children, husband of 47 years, and an engineer whose career engendered a peripatetic family life that took the family to Chicago, Los Angeles, and twice to both London and Princeton, where she and Charles ended up living for 36 years. As her children got older, Andree launched a second professional career as a social worker. Always taking a great interest in people and societies, she plied her trade in diverse environments varying from South London council flats to eventually running a Family Service agency in Trenton, NJ. Following her retirement, she stayed active in community affairs in Princeton, serving on the board of the YWCA, and the Princeton Civil Rights Commission, as well as joining the Centurion Ministries Innocence Project, researching cases of alleged wrongful convictions. She and Charles also joined Community Without Walls, a membership organization dedicated to supporting each other in aging at home. Through all of this, she was a loyal, generous, interesting and interested friend, gathering a large social circle that spanned multiple generations. Following the death of her husband Charles in 2008, Andree moved to Santa Monica, occasioning a final chapter that saw her embrace life in Southern California - socially active, indomitable and, stepping across the creeping indignities of age, ever youthful, with intellectual acuity, an endless curiosity about life and people, and a daily dedication to The New York Times crossword puzzle. Andree leaves behind her daughter Amanda, son- in-law Bruce, son Christopher, daughter-in-law Lindsay, grandchildren Philippa, Chatto, Isabel and Devon, her companion Jim, many friends and relatives on both sides of the Atlantic, and a recently tuned VW convertible in her garage, bon vivant to the end. A memorial will be held Thanksgiving weekend in Los Angeles. Those wishing to donate in her name may do so by giving to Emeritus Program at Santa Monica College, which offers free tuition to seniors. Donations may be made at the link below: foundation.smc.edu/ areas-to-support/emeritus/