Jay Glenn Marks

Jay G. Marks, somewhat shy of his 100th birthday, passed away in the early morning hours on Monday, March 28, 2016, as he wished, in his own bed, with his immediate family nearby. He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 65 years, Consuelo Plaza Marks, mother Florence (Floy) Pixley, and father J. Glenn Marks. Jay was born August 7, 1916, in Los Angeles, California. He took an early interest in fishing and hunting under the tutelage of his father and maternal grandfather, both prominent Southern California businessmen and avid outdoorsmen. Blessed with keen intelligence and athletic ability, he attended UCLA, then USC (one summer semester), and finally Stanford, where he ultimately earned a Ph.D. in paleontology. In 1941, Jay took a paleontology job with the International Petroleum Company in Ecuador, mapping the geology of that country's coastal region. He met his wife-to-be, Consuelo Plaza, at the Guayaquil Tennis Club. One might suppose that her Spanish heritage, striking beauty, and skill at piano, swimming, and tennis sparked his adventurous and amorous spirit. They were married in Guayaquil in 1942, and in 1944, greeted the arrival of their first son, Jay Jr. In 1946, the family left Ecuador and moved to Woodside Glens, California, where they lived while Jay completed his Ph.D. dissertation at Stanford, and where their second son, John, was born in 1947. With the world crying out for oil to fuel its post-war growth, Jay took a job in 1948 with Creole Petroleum Company in Venezuela. The family lived first in Caracas, and then Maracaibo, where their third son, Brian, was born in 1957.   Political unrest in Venezuela led Jay to move his family back to the U.S. that same year. He transferred to Humble Oil & Refining Company (which eventually morphed into Exxon-Mobil) in Denver. Jay worked as a paleontologist-geologist until his retirement from Exxon in 1975, transferring once from Colorado to California in the 1960s and then back to Colorado again. Retirement hardly describes Jay's latter years. He traveled with his wife, Consuelo, to the Middle East and Europe. An expert fly-fisherman, he went on expeditions to British Columbia and Alaska to catch steelhead and salmon. He continued to hone his wing-shooting skills on pheasant hunting trips. When his doctor advised him to give up competitive tennis at the age of 70 to avoid hip surgery, he took up golf, which he pursued with passion up through the last year of his life. We celebrate a life well lived, a man well loved, and a legacy of which anyone would be proud. Jay is survived by sons Jay (Athena) Marks, Jr., John (Karen) Marks, and Brian (Allison Welch) Marks, and grandchildren Alina, Braden, Allison, and Jordan. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Jay's memory to the Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences, Stanford Earth Fund, would be appreciated: online at http://stanford.io/1S0KxgN or by mail at Stanford University, Development Services, School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences, Stanford Earth Fund, P.O. Box 20466, Stanford, CA 94309-0466. There will be a Celebration of Life for Jay G. Marks on Saturday, April 16, 2016, at 2:00 PM at Meridian Englewood, 3455 South Corona Street, Englewood, Colorado 80113. The family intends for this service to be a joyous celebration of Jay's life and in that spirit requests that attendees not wear black. Please share memories of Jay and condolences with his family by signing the Guestbook below.