Mark Lee Myers

1931 - 2021

Mark Lee Myers, a founding commissioner and long-time resident of the City of Weston, Fla., died December 28, 2020. He was 89 years old. Born in Scranton, Pa, on Sept. 15, 1931, Myers graduated from William Penn Charter preparatory school in Philadelphia in 1949, and from Cornell University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1953. He was a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, serving between 1953 and 1967 as a Nuclear Weapons Specialist, in charge of the 8-52 and 8-66 Bombers at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

Myers started his professional life as a research engineer at Scott Paper Co., earning several patents for the company while still in his 20s. A successful entrepreneur, Myers launched his first engineering firm in 1963; became managing partner of an oil and gas development company shortly thereafter; was invited by the Philadelphia-Baltimore-Washington Stock Exchange to become its first international trader of Scotch Whiskey futures; earned his NASO securities license; and in 1974 founded what became one of the largest industrial commercial printers in the Southeast, LDC Graphics. In 1995 he wrote his own unique set of estimating algorithms, which led to the launch of software-development company Estimator Corp. the following year. As CEO, he led the company until his death.

Mark also devoted a significant part of his life to public service and the arts. A co-founder of the City of Weston, Florida, he was elected with more votes than any other candidate to Weston's first City Commission, where he served for a decade. He was a Founding Director of the Weston Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Weston Homeowners Association, and co-founder of the Weston Philharmonic Society. He was also was a devoted member of the Broward County Art Council and founder of the Weston Art Festival, and served on many charitable boards, including the Children's Caring Cancer Center, Joe DiMaggio's Angels in the Outfield, the Florida Festival Philharmonic Orchestra, the Dan Marino Charity Classic, and the National Juvenile Diabetes Association. He served as Founder and Director of the Weston Foundation Educational and Philanthropic trust.

Mark had a post-WWII optimism in all things, including marriage, having consummated, and dissolved, four of them. That optimism served him well, as he found great happiness with his partner, the artist Fran Skiles, in the last decade of his life. Mark was an accomplished pianist who performed publicly for years, and in 2020 he fulfilled a lifelong ambition when he earned his Life Master certificate from the American Contract Bridge League. Landing a superior, or even inferior pun was a daily practice. He was a most loving and dedicated friend, father and grandfather, and would often ask others to ask him why he carried six particular coins in his pocket at all times. Why, indeed? To remind himself that whatever happens in life, change is good.

The middle son of Ruth Harris Myers and Max Arthur Myers, Mark spent much of his boyhood in Flourtown, Pa., and remained an active member of the William Penn Charter School and Cornell University alumni communities throughout his life. He is survived by his four children, Judi L'Hommedieu of Orlando, Robbie Myers of New York City, Aimee Buffington of Saint Augustine, Fla., and Erin Portman of Austin; his younger brother, Robert Myers of Boulder; twelve grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

A memorial will be held by the Unitarian Church in the coming weeks. In lieu of flowers please send donations to the Weston Philharmonic Society or The American Cancer Society.