In Memoriam - Adolph Mark

Adolph E. Mark, 82, an economics professor at DePaul University for more than 30 years, died of congestive heart failure and complications from prostate cancer Sunday, July 20, in St. Francis Hospital, Evanston. Mr. Mark, who lived in Alden Estates of Evanston for the past year, was a native Chicagoan. After working briefly in a factory, his wife, Dorothy, said, he saw that he wanted a different future. So Mr. Mark enrolled in college. He received a bachelor's degree from DePaul in 1950 then went on to earn a master's degree in economics from the University of Michigan in 1954. He began teaching economics at a women's college, which is now St. Francis University, in Joliet in the 1950s, his wife said. In 1961, he became an economics professor at DePaul. Two years later he received a doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois. Mr. Mark found economics fascinating, challenging and consuming. "He loved his work," his wife said. "I would tell him, `Remember I'm your wife, but it seems to me economics is your life.'" He retired from DePaul in 1991 but continued to teach one course a semester until a few years ago. "He demanded excellence in the classroom. He had very high standards, and he demanded that students do their very best," said Michael Miller, chairman of the Department of Economics. Mr. Mark was involved in various charitable organizations. He was also a past president of DePaul's faculty senate and an active member of the American Association of University Professors. Other survivors include a son, Charles; daughters Roseann and Marlene; a brother, Herbert; and two grandchildren. Visitation will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the Chapel of St. Mary's Home, Little Sisters of the Poor, 2325 N. Lakewood Ave., followed by mass at 10:30 a.m.

Chicago Tribune, July 23, 2003