SALISBURY - Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Samuel J. Marks died in his home in Salisbury, on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018. The child of immigrants Israel and Ida Teves Marks, he was raised in Love Point on Kent Island.
He graduated from Stevensville High School and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1951. Following Officer Candidate School, he served as a Weapons Control Officer at Wakkanai AFB and Naha AB in Japan. He later participated in early air operations of the Vietnam Conflict. He returned to the states and was drafted into the Minuteman Missile Program. He graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1968 and was assigned as Minuteman Staff Operations Officer in Great Falls, Mont. His final assignment was at Dover AFB. After the military, he retired in 1996 from the position of Supervisor of Assessments for Wicomico County.
He is survived by his wife of 20 years, Mary Sides Marks; three children, Thomas E. Bunch of Pauls Valley, Okla., Ida R. MacDonald of Georgetown, Texas, and Lesa M. Poinsett of Springfield, Va.; and two stepchildren, Cynthia C. Loden-Dowdle of Alexandria, Va., and Christopher D. Loden of Tyler, Texas; 12 grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and his brother, James "Jimmy" Marks.
He was predeceased by his first wife, Laudine F. Carter Marks.
A Memorial Service was held Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018, at the Holloway Funeral Home in Salisbury. Inurnment will follow at a later date at the Arlington National Cemetery.