Howard Benjamin Marks

Howard Benjamin Marks passed away in his sleep on Sun., July 19, 2009, while being cared for in a private home in Cathedral City, Calif. He was born on Feb. 10, 1912, to Nathan and Lillian (Miller) Marks in Pocahontas, Va.; the family subsequently moved to Knoxville, Tenn., where he attended high school. He attended the University of Tennessee for two years, until the death of his father required him to leave college. On a vacation in Miami, Fla., he met his wife to be, Marjorie Jeanne Liss of Minneapolis, Minn. (second daughter and third child of Herman and Anne Liss); they became engaged on New Year's Eve, 1943, and were married on Feb. 27, 1944. They settled in Minneapolis where Howard established himself as a manufacturer's representative for a large number of office furniture and equipment companies. Marjorie joined the business around 1960. They began to collect art in a serious way in the mid-1960s, and by the mid-1970s had one of the most impressive private collections of drawings in Minneapolis. He was active at Temple Israel in Minneapolis and gave generously to many charities. The Howard B. Marks Co. thrived until the mid-1980s, when the couple retired to a home at Seven Lakes, in Palm Springs, Calif. In Palm Springs Howard obtained a real estate license and worked freelance as both a realtor and a mortgage broker. Howard and Marjorie remained married for sixty-five years, until his death. They had two children, Melissa Anne Rolloff (born 1947), now of Louisville, Ky., and Martin Miller Marks (born 1949), of Somerville, Mass. They loved to entertain, and Howard always displayed a suave, genteel "Southern" manner. He and Margie made a beautiful couple on the dance floor. He greatly enjoyed golf (mainly at Oakridge Country Club in Hopkins, Minn.) and card games, as well as his stamp collection. He also loved to spend time at his workbench, and to fix anything broken as ingeniously and economically as possible. His health remained strong until he entered his ninth decade; during his decline, he rarely complained, and he remained determined to look after Margie and maintain his independence for as long as possible. Never a highly "learned" man, he was nonetheless open to all ideas, thoughtful, extremely funny, and a very wise and shrewd judge of character. His wife and children hope and pray that he is now resting peacefully in a heaven filled with many loving thoughts. Howard, we will miss you and cherish your memory! Donations should be directed to either Temple Israel of Minneapolis, or to the Starkey Hearing Foundation.