Dr. Rev. James Russell Marks

Dr. Marks was born in Strawberry Point, Iowa, the son of the late Albert and Edith (Donlon) Marks. He was raised and educated in Davenport, Iowa, before moving to Boston to attend seminary at the Boston University School of Theology, where he graduated in 1939. In 1942, he was commissioned as an officer in the Chaplains Corps of the United States Navy. Dr. Marks served aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Nassau and the heavy cruiser U.S.S. Bremerton in the Pacific theater of World War II. He participated in the campaigns in the Solomon, Marshal, Gilbert, and Aleutian Islands during the war.

Dr. Marks chose to remain on active duty in the Navy following the war where his assignments included assisting with the occupation force in Japan, in the demobilization of forces in the U.S. and later the implementation of the Marshall plan in Europe. Continuing his military service, he was deployed overseas during the Korean Conflict and during the Cold War he was stationed onboard communications vessels in the Atlantic during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He served as the chaplain onboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Wasp, during the early Gemini astronaut recovery missions. Throughout his career, he served with distinction in the both the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets. He also served at several bases and training centers in the continental United States. On Easter Sunday1969, after 27 years of active duty service, he retired in a ceremony aboard the U.S.S. Constitution.

Dr. Marks obtained a Masters Degree from Harvard Divinity School and, following his military career, a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Andover Newton Theological School. He served as pastor at the Leyden Church in Brookline and at First Parish Congregational Church in Wakefield. Dr. Marks was a licensed pilot and enjoyed flying a variety of aircraft, both civil and military. During his retirement, he remained active in the community and at his home by the ocean in Gloucester.

In 1942, Dr. Marks married the late Helen Jean Coleman, an educator and one of the first females to receive a commission in the U.S. Navy through the WAVE program. Dr. Marks was the beloved father of Eunice Carson and her husband William of Hopkinton and Dr. Susan Ting and her husband Dr. Samuel Ting (Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1976) of Lexington and Geneva, Switzerland; Grandfather of Eunice Giles, William Carson IV, Laura Toth, Sarah Carson, Christopher Ting, Elizabeth Carson and Eleanore Carson; Great-Grandfather of Norah Giles, William Carson VII, Alexander Toth and Esther Carson. He was also the step-Grandfather of Jeanne Ting Chowning and Amy Ting. Dr. Marks was the brother of the late Dorothy and Muriel Marks.

Funeral Services will be held at 10 o'clock A.M. on Saturday June 8, at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 79 Denton Rd., Wellesley, interment private. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Dr. Rev. Marks may be made to the Alzheimer's Association Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter 480 Pleasant Street, Watertown, MA 02472.