James L. Marks III ’63

Jim died Aug. 2, 2018, of complications of cancer at home on Dataw Island, S.C. He was a leader in private education for half a century.

He arrived at Princeton — where his father was in the Class of 1937 — from Andover and majored in history, lettered in wrestling and 150-pound football, managed Esquire Sales Agency, and was social chairman of Ivy. His senior-year roommates were John Duffy, Dave Hersey, and Ed Volkwein. After graduation he joined Hotchkiss School, earned a master’s in education from Harvard, and became the youngest dean of the faculty in Hotchkiss history.

As headmaster of Lake Forest (Ill.) Country Day School from 1981 to 1998, Jim was president of the Elementary School Heads Association and president of the Independent Schools Association of Greater Chicago, and was a founding member of Corporate Project, which encouraged corporations to match employees’ donations to private schools. After retiring from Lake Forest, he moved south and was a partner for 10 years of Educators’ Collaborative, a consulting firm. Dataw residents Doc Reese ’63 and Gabe Nagy ’63 were frequent companions; in 2005 Jim, Gabe, and teammates won the national 3.0 tennis title for players 60 and over.

The class shares its sorrow with his wife of 54 years, Sally; daughter Elizabeth (Sibby) Dawson; son Christopher; and four grandchildren.