EMILY MARKS

1938 - 2023

MARKS--Emily Menlo, passed away quietly on August 2, 2023 after a cardiac incident while swimming at the age of 85. Emily is predeceased by her loving husband Burton and her parents, Emil and Marie. Emily is survived by her sister Louise Menlo of Austin, TX; sons Paul and Daniel; daughter Lisa Marie, daughters-in-law Margaret and Victoria and her beloved grandchildren Rachel, Samantha, Benjamin and Sofia. She was born in Manhattan in 1938. She earned a bachelor's degree from Smith College in 1959 and has a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Business and a Certificate from Columbia School of Social Work. Her life of service in New York and to communities across the world impacted countless people and organizations. She started her advocacy for New York neighborhoods in the early 1960s as a founder of the Council for Parks and Playgrounds' Stuyvesant Park Area Committee and was active in the Parks Council for the whole of the 1960s. Her children may have been the part of the impetus for her early activism, but she had a clear- eyed view of the world and how she could better it. Beginning in 1988, she revitalized United Neighborhood Houses of New York, the federation of settlement houses in New York City, during her almost 15 years as Executive Director. She was previously Deputy Executive Director and Acting Executive Director of the National Service Corporation (City Volunteer Corps) for the City of New York. She was also Associate Director and Director of Special Projects at the Vera Institute of Social Justice, and the Vice President of Wildcat Service Corp. Earlier she worked in the public sector as Assistant Administrator of the New York City Environmental Protection Administration. She served on a number of nonprofit boards, including two terms as President of The Parks Council, where she was a Board member for 30 years, and two terms as President of the International Federation of Settlements and Community Centers. She wrote and spoke widely on social policy and community issues and has been honored by numerous organizations. In her later years, Emily focused on her Board work for organizations such as BronxWorks and Bronx Children's Museum, and took great joy in imparting advice to those who asked. She had the unique ability to understand problems and craft long-term solutions that went to the heart of solving the issue, rather than papering over it. A recent devotee to bridge over Zoom, playing several times a week, Emily also discovered the joy of Florida in the winter. She was an avid swimmer and remained active until her death. One would be remiss not to mention her love of all things French. She mastered the language when studying in Geneva during her junior year abroad and took joy in visiting France whenever possible, including living in Paris in the late '80s, where she was active with French charity Restaurants du Coeur. She loved attending concerts, films, lectures, theater and supported multiple cultural organizations in New York. Food played an important role in her life, as she loved to cook for her family and friends with a special treat of Schnecken for her grandchildren when the occasion called for it. The memorial service will be held on Wednesday August 9th at 3:00pm in the Robert H. Smith Auditorium at the New York Historical Society in Manhattan. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the BronxWorks www.bronxworks.org or any of the other organizations with which she was involved or cared about.