Longtime Broward School Board attorney

Edward Marko, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer who was a fixture in the Broward County School District for more than four decades, has died. He was 83.

Marko, who died Feb. 23 of heart failure, practiced law in South Florida for 60 years. A graduate of the University of Miami Law School, he was a lawyer in private practice when the school district gave him a contract to be general counsel in 1967. He was hired to work in-house in 1996 and remained general counsel until his retirement in 2011.

He served with 11 superintendents and advised more than 60 School Board members on everything from a 1968 teacher’s strike to desegregation to concerns raised by three grand juries.

“He was a “go to” person when it had to do with legal issues,” former Superintendent Jim Notter said. “He was an icon and a friend. He was like a big brother to me.”

Notter said Marko also had a “heart of compassion” for kids.

Marko mentored many law school students and young lawyers, including Marylin Batista, who started working with him in 1994 while a student at Nova Southeastern University law school. She now serves as deputy general counsel for the school district.

“He was extremely kind and generous with his time, but a lot of people — not me — felt he was also intimidating,” Batista said. “He had a bigger-than-life personality and very deep, booming voice.”

Whatever advice he gave was well-researched and professional, she said.

“What amazed me was the passion and energy he had for his profession. The fire was still burning until the end,” she said.

After retirement, Marko started doing mediation work and volunteered with the Florida Bar.

In his personal life, he loved University of Miami football, boating and pelicans, which he thought were majestic birds, Batista said.

He is survived by his wife, Evelyn; his son, E.J. Marko; his daughter, Malease Marko-Berg; and five grandchildren.

Marko