Marvin always had a song and big smile to brighten our world. He was born in South Philadelphia on September 23, 1925, to Phillip, a first generation immigrant from Kiev, Ukraine and Ethel Kauffman. “Ducky” was an accomplished high school athlete, playing football, baseball, and sprinting. After high school, he enlisted in the Army, and was trained at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and in Jacksonville, Florida. He was transferred to the European Theater to fight in the “Big One” – World War II, as the leader of a team dismantling mines and booby-traps in the Battle of the Bulge in French Territory.
After the war, Marvin went to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania on the GI Bill where he majored in Accounting and became a CPA. He later received his Masters in Accounting from Temple University. After joining a local accounting firm, Marvin decided to start his own accounting and tax consulting firm, serving Philadelphia and surrounding towns. He enjoyed helping and inspiring young people and shared his knowledge and practical experience as an Associate Professor of Accounting at Temple University. Known as “Mr. Consolidations”, he was one of the most popular and acclaimed professors at Temple, winning the Distinguished Faculty Award twice, the Accounting Alumni Association’s Excellence in Teaching Award, various Beta Alpha Psi Awards and numerous others over three decades. Marvin remains as an Emeritus Associate Professor of Accounting at Temple University.
He married the love of his life, Elaine of Swampscott, MA, running down the aisle to claim his bride on their wedding day, December 24, 1961. Their family started in Moorestown, NJ, with Mr. Chips, the golden retriever, and the births of their two children, Mike and Lori in Moorestown, New Jersey. In the middle of that, Marvin attended PhD courses at New York University and completed all requirements for the PhD except for his Spanish language requirement, which he refused to take. Marvin shared his athleticism by coaching little league baseball in Wynnewood, PA for many years. He was active Wynnewood Players Community Theatre, where he started with his singing and acting. Marvin was an avid tennis player and golfer throughout much of his life.
He maintained his busy accounting practice and teaching, and published a short book on key principles in management accounting in 2010. He retired to Naples, Florida for over three decades, subsequently moving to Boston, Massachusetts.
He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Elaine, children Michael and Lori, and grandchildren Nicole, Danielle, Amir and Dor. He will be missed by all.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18