William Riley Marken
September 2, 1942 - August 11, 2017
William (Bill) Marken, 74 of Los Altos, died August 11, 2017 at home surrounded by his family and listening to Bob Dylan. He lived life to its fullest until the end, especially after his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer, in November 2015. A life-long Californian, Bill was born in Morgan Hill to Harry and Emma Marken and grew up down the street from his future wife of 52 years, Marilyn Tonascia Marken. Early jobs in the orchards of the Valley along with visits to his father’s plant nursery inspired a lifelong love of gardens and nature and, after attending Occidental College (where he played basketball on the freshman team) and graduating from UC Berkeley in 1964, he applied for a job, any job, at Sunset Magazine. Somehow his application caught the eye of the magazine’s gardening editor, who placed Bill temporarily on the landscaping crew while waiting for an editorial job to open up. After a while, Bill moved over to the editorial side and was assigned the massive revision of Sunset’s Western Garden Book (which came out in 1967), while still working half time in the garden. From those humble beginnings, Bill had a 30 plus year career at Sunset, eventually becoming the Editor-inChief in 1981. During his term as Editor-in-Chief, from 1981-1996, Sunset had its highest ever circulation. Upon leaving Sunset, after it was purchased by Time, Inc., Bill remained involved in magazine writing and editing, but also enjoyed delving into the new (then) online world, working for Garden.com and eHow.com, among others. Until last week, Bill was consulting for Garden Design magazine, as well as writing the occasional article—most recently “Lessons from a Three Generation Edible Garden” for the summer 2017 issue. Despite a full professional life, Bill made time for many other interests. Having traveled to Lake Tahoe since a young boy, he felt strongly about preserving the Lake and as such was on the Board of the League to Save Lake Tahoe for 16 years and served as its president for 4 years. He also went back to school at the age of 65 and received his Masters of Liberal Arts from Stanford University in 2012. Bill had many passions and hobbies—basketball (playing, coaching, watching), hiking, gardening, Tahoe, travel, biking, music (from classic Bob Dylan to new music from the War on Drugs), but his family brought him the most joy. He is survived by his wife Marilyn, daughters Catherine Marken Boyle and Liz Marken Fiorentino, sons Mike and Paul Marken and 12 grandchildren ranging in age from 20 to 8 (Lizzie, Matt, and Annie Boyle, Claire, Kiki and Jane Fiorentino, Henry, Emma, and Lucy Marken and Sarah, Will and Emily Marken) all who live nearby. He went to their games, concerts, and shows whenever he could, from t-ball to state championship games. “Pa” had an incredible ability to relate to all the kids whatever their age and each had their own personal relationship with him. He will be sorely missed, but aspects of him live on in each of his children and grandchildren.
A Celebration of Life will be held on August 18, 2017 at 4pm. Please email catherineboyle1@hotmail.com for details.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: The League to Save Lake Tahoe, keeptahoeblue.org; Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, https://jrbp.stanford.edu/donate; Pacific Horticultural Society https://www.pacifichorticulture.org