Funeral Details

Life is with people

Emanuel "Muni" Mark, age 95, died peacefully at home on 11/24/2015 (12 Kislev 5776) in Chicago, Illinois.

He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Lois H. Mark, 5 children, 13 grandchildren, 5 great-grandchildren, brother Moishe Mark and sister Reva Kriegel. He is also survived by Lois’ 3 daughters and 7 grandchildren.

Born in Libova (Liepaja), Latvia in 1920, the first son of the Yiddish lexicographer Yudl Mark, Muni was raised in the secular Yiddish world of Latvia and Lithuania, attending Yiddish schools and steeped in the culture of his people. When Muni was 14, his mother Bluma died after a long illness. Yudl and Muni moved to the U.S. in 1936, taking advantage of Hitler's temporary opening of the borders for the Berlin Olympics, in order to leave.

To join the fight against the Nazi regime and fascism, he served in the U.S. Army from 1942-1945, trained in almost 40 states and became a radio operator in Patton’s 3rd Army-94th Infantry. He was seriously wounded in battle on Sept 17, 1944 in Northern France, for which he was awarded the Purple Heart. 70 years to the day after his injury, on Sept 17, 2014, a piece of shrapnel was removed from his chest during a pacemaker procedure.

The proverbial wandering and "wondering" Jew (as Muni described himself), his work as a Yiddish teacher took him to Akron, OH, Chicago, IL, the Bronx, NY, and in 1954 to Detroit, MI. During his years in Detroit from 1954-1980, he was the director of Camp Farband near Chelsea, MI, organizer for the Labor Zionist movement and a director of fundraising for the Jewish Welfare Federation of Detroit, completing his career at UJA-Federation in New York in 1985.

Anchored in his love of the Jewish world, he embodied the social justice ideals of Labor Zionism, expanding that love to all people. "Alle mentschen zaynen brider" - a song he sang with his teenage friends in Kovno, Lithuania, was still his mantra in his 90s. He was proud to be from a family that believed that all people should be treated with respect. From his experience of war and the tragic loss of family and culture in the Holocaust, he drew the conclusion that peace was the answer.

Muni was a great walker and talker. To walk with Muni was to struggle to keep up - even for his grandchildren when he was in his 80s. To talk with him was to listen to labyrinthine yarns and struggle to keep track.

Memorial contributions may be made to The Forward, 125 Maiden Lane, 8th floor, New York, NY 10038-5015. www.forward.com/give.

Condolences can be posted at: chicagojewishfunerals.com or legacy.com

Survived by wife Lois H. Mark,
Children: Gary (Karen) Mark, Laurel Mark, Julia (David) Chaitin, Mika (Rick) Caruana, Rochelle Upfal.
Grandchildren: Natan, Noa, Daniel, Alex, Claudia, Brian, Malka, Abraham, Eyahl, Tamir, Raya, Jessica, Joshua.
Great-grandchildren: Shachar, Neta, David, Michal, Tamar.
Brother Moishe Mark,
Sister Reva Kriegel,
Lois’ daughters: Susan (Elliot) Hollander, Julie (Clyde) Haworth, Carol (Brad) White, the late Elizabeth (Tom) Schwartz,
Grandchildren: Emily, Aron, Kate, Jacob, Abby, Hannah, Nicholas.