MARK MARDEROSIAN

1962 - 2021

MARDEROSIAN--Mark Daniel. Mark Daniel Marderosian, known to many who loved him as Dan, of Old Lyme, CT, died on Monday, December 6, at the home he shared with his wife, the "love of his life," Maris Wacs, after a long fight with a rare form of cancer. He was 59. He was born April 14, 1962, in Dayton, Ohio, and lived extensively in Europe where his father served as a NATO officer. Dan was a loving husband and devoted father who enjoyed living life to its fullest. He was a noted attorney, who took on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and the Ku Klux Klan in the courts. He was also an open- wheel Formula and straight liner automotive racer and an actor, who among other roles played "Treat" on the Ryan's Hope television drama, and he was a collector of Renaissance drawings who loved to travel with his wife. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Fine Arts Conservatory in St. Louis, MO, in 1984 and a Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University in 1991. He was modest about his contributions as an attorney, but one former colleague said he was "the best of the profession" who brought to the law "sensitivity, intuition, passion, compassion" and scholarship and who infused "the law with such creativity that it is astounding." As an attorney he handled a wide range of commercial and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations "RICO" litigation and devoted himself to using the law to right moral and ethical wrongs. He was co-counsel to Sandy Hook parents in a defamation suit against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. He also worked tirelessly on behalf of the great-great- great-granddaughter of an enslaved person who was photographed in 1850 by Harvard Professor Louis Agassiz as part of an effort to assert white superiority. Dan helped sue Harvard to force the return of the photographs to the enslaved person's descendants. He fought for United Sates citizens in Puerto Rico seeking Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security benefit parity. He successfully took on the Austrian government and industry in a Nazi-era reparations fight which ended up benefitting Maris's father, Eli Wacs. He also represented a veteran's memorial foundation in litigation against the Imperial Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. He served as a partner at Cohen & Marderosian of New York City, Washington and Florence, Italy, and was "of counsel" in the litigation departments of Dreier LLP and Moses & Singer LLP, both of New York City. In addition to his wife, Maris, he is survived by his son Jordan Feinstein and daughter in-law Abigail Clyne, his daughter Sydney Kriegsman and son-in-law David Kriegsman, and his daughter Lindsey Feinstein and her partner Dylan Young. He was predeceased by his parents Rafael "Marc" Marderosian and Birdella "Birdie" Faye Marderosian as well as his brother, Raffi "Chip" Marderosian. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Dan's honor to Safe Futures CT (SafeFutruresct.org) and High Hopes (HighHopestr.org)