Bill Marks

Bill passed peacefully at his home in Westminster, Colorado with his family by his side on May 23rd, 2023.

Born 6/10/1939 in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Bill was raised with his sister, Betty, in East Grand Forks Minnesota. He was one of the boys of the “Point”, a small hamlet in East Grand Forks, where the two rivers met. He told stories of wearing his white t-shirt with cigarettes rolled in the sleeves (Although he never smoked) and of the fun, and probably some trouble, he had with his friends while growing up.

In January of 1956, Bill joined the Navy with 4 of his friends. He trained at the US Navy electrical school at Great Lakes Navel Training in Chicago. After receiving his training, he was stationed on naval destroyers where he was in Norfolk, Virginia, traveled all around the Mediterranean Sea, visited several countries, and participated in mock invasions with the UDT Seal team as well as visited Cuba and several cities on the East Coast. Bill was deeply proud of his service in the Navy and carried that pride with him throughout his life.

His electrical training in the Navy led to his lifetime career working as a Master Electrician. He joined the electrical union in Grand Forks, ND (Local 1426) and after moving to Colorado in 1971 he worked out of local 68 Denver. During his 50 years in the electrical trade, he had his electrical license in several states and his masters license for 35 years. In addition to his many electrical jobs he has his own electrical company (Aztec Electric) in Colorado for 12 years. Bill eventually retired from working as a Fire Alarm Technician, from CU Boulder. He always said that he loved his career so much that he “Never worked a day in his life.”

In 1961 Bill married Jan Korsmo and they had Bill’s only child, Heidi Marks Casler, in August of 1972. Although Bill and Jan divorced in 1986, the two of them eventually became the very best of friends and regularly had adventures with each other, even just a couple of weeks before Bill passed.

Bill lived on his own terms and was a man of great physical and mental strength. No challenge was ever too big for him to overcome. He loved to smile and always made jokes with everyone he knew! He was known for his “Bill Sayings” (If you know, you know!) and loved meeting and talking with all people. Additionally, he was SO handsome- even up to his very last moments.

In his later years he spent a lot of time reading, listening to his favorite radio stations, watching movies (Favorite movie was Home Alone), using the internet and spending time working on his home and yard. His gardening skills were amazing, and his yard was always perfect! He was fully self-sufficient up to the very end and he would not have wanted it any other way,

He loved animals and was proud to be the Grand dad to his daughter’s three crazy dogs.

Some of his favorite pastimes were: Building things, woodworking, mountain climbing, Scuba Diving (He was a certified Dive master and even saved someone’s life one time), travel, antiquing, trap and rifle shooting, hunting, and many other activities.

Survivors include his daughter, Heidi Marks Casler and her husband Mark, his best friend Janice Korsmo Marks, sister Betty Torgerson and nephew Jeff Torgerson.

A small service will be held at Fort Logan for close friends and family, see service date and time below.

In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation in Bill’s name to the Wounded Warrior Project,

see quick link below.

We will miss you from the very bottom of our hearts. The hole you leave in us will never be filled, but we know we will be reunited with you in heaven.

“It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.”

– John Steinbeck