Randolph A Marks

New York business leader Randolph Marks founded the Marks Family Foundation in Buffalo in 1991 as a way to give back to the community that supported him and his family throughout his business career. Marks, a pioneer in the evolution of the computer industry, died at the age of 76 in Palm Beach, Fla. on March 31, 2012. Mr. Marks was born in Rome, N.Y. in 1935. He graduated from Lehigh University in 1957 and went to work at Rome Cable. His successful career in sales began in 1960, when he was hired by IBM in Buffalo, N.Y. In 1966, Mr. Marks and G. David Baer, his former IBM colleague, formed Computer Task Group, headquartered in Buffalo. Under their leadership, CTG grew from a small western New York operation of computer programmers and project managers, into a NASDQ corporation offering IT and business consulting to the healthcare and technology sectors in the US and Europe. Mr. Marks retired as CEO of CTG in 1984 and remained on its board until his death. In 1985 Mr. Marks and Paul Joy, former president of the Carborundum Co., headed a group of investors that purchased American Brass, a leading US producer of brass and copper products, from the Atlantic Richfield Company. He served as Chairman of the Board until 1990, when the company was sold to a Finnish firm. Mr. Marks continued in business as a private investor with an office in the historic Cyclorama Building in Buffalo. He served on several corporate boards including Columbus McKinnon, Ciminelli Construction Company, Delaware North Companies, HSBC, Pratt and Lambert, and Trico. He sat on the boards of the Albright Knox Art Gallery, the American Heart Association, Buffalo General Hospital, Buffalo Hearing and Speech, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Seymour H. Knox Foundation, Studio Arena, Ducks Unlimited and the Genesee Valley Hunt. After the sale of American Brass in 1991, he established the Marks Family Foundation, which continues to support under-served populations through programs in health, education, the environment and the arts. He is survived by his wife of 27 years, Sally; four children by his first wife, Julia Wilkin Marks (deceased), Wendelyn M. Duquette (Donald) of Waterbury Center, Theodore E. Marks II (Elizabeth) of Buffalo, N.Y., Heather M. Palmer (Marc) of Stowe, and Joshua R. Marks (Joanna) of Brooklyn, N.Y.; three stepchildren, Alice O'Malley Abell of New York, Charles Lee Abell III (Margaret) of Rochester, N.Y., and Edward S. G. Abell (Bruce Rinderman) of New York; nine grandchildren; as well as his cousin, Peter S. Updike; and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his sister, Theo Marks Balch.