Vernon L. Marks
January 2, 1931 - June 4, 2005

SWAINSBORO--Funeral for Vernon Lee Marks 74, was held Monday, June 6, 2005 at 2: p.m. at Hawhammock Baptist Church with the Rev. Cail Pressey officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery. He passed from life to eternal life thirty-six minutes after midnight Saturday June 4, 2005 at The Savannah Memorial Health and Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia.

Mr. Marks was born January 2, 1931, to proud parents Virgil James and Ellen Mae Brush-Marks. He was the oldest of six children who survive him.

Their names are Carl Lavern Marks, Rosa Naomi Marks-Wear, Loyde Ray Marks, Stella Marks Childers, and Ruth Caroline Marks. Mr. Marks leaves behind his wife of fifty-one and a half years, Bonnette Daniels Marks. Their son is the late William Neat Marks of Jonesboro, Georgia. Sharon Marks Manross of Jonesboro, Georgia is their daughter. Mr. Chip Mantoss of Jonesboro, Georgia was regarded by Mr. Marks as a son. Mr. Marks was devoted to grandchildren, Tonya and Marc Moore, Nikki Marks, Erin and Marshall Frost, Courtney and Jennifer Marks. Laurel Manross, Rich and Ashley Manross, Trisha Marks and Brittany Marks.

He was additionally blessed with six great-grandchildren. Mr. Marks retired from the United States Army after twenty-two years of distinguished service. While in the military, he served in the Korean Conflict and Vietnam. He received the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Vietnam Service Medal, and he served with the Army Exchange Air Force Service.

Mr. Marks was a member of Hawhammock Baptist Church. Mrs. Marks welcomes gifts to the Hawhammock Building Fund in honor of her husband. The growth of the church was an especial joy to Mr. Marks, and he would be honored to be part of any future growth of the church where he served. Pallbearers were Keith Radford, David Bedgood, Vince Scott, Rickv Lynn Ely, Adam Ely, Larry Cannady, Marshall Frost, and Chris Radford. Honorary pallbearers are the Deacons of Hawhammock Baptist Church.Peebles -Curry-Durden Mortuary had charge of arrangements.

Dear Judy, my name is Sherry Manross, and I am writing for my mother Ertha Bonnette Marks.

Vernon Marks, my father and her husband, was stationed at Coleman Barracks in Sandhofen, Germany in 1967 until he was reassigned to Viet Nam. We lived in Benjamin Franklin Village at 38E Jefferson Street. Colonel Blake was his commanding officer.

I remember that I had my 10th birthday there just after we moved into quarters, and the cook made me a beautiful full sheet birthday cake...decorated and with candles...the whole thing.

He retired from the Army at Fort Campbell, Kentucky in 1971. After retiring, Daddy drove a truck for about eighteen years. Daddy and Mamma moved to Jonesboro, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta) in 1977 where Daddy worked driving a truck and dispatching for AAFES for fifteen years. He retired again, and they moved to Swainsboro, Georgia, my Mamma's hometown.

It is a small town in south Georgia where her sisters and brothers and a lot of her nieces, nephews, and cousins lived, too.

They joined Hawhammock Baptist Church where he became a deacon. He loved to play his piano (the same piano he bought in Germany from a couple who had too much weight to ship it home) and sing. He sang in church often, wrote beautiful songs, and of course he sang for family and my mother's prayer meeting. He enjoyed those times so much. Daddy had a host of medical problems that in spite of surgeries, a stroke, and the required life changes of these ailments, he lived life with joy and vigor!

He died from a brain hemorrage caused by leukemia which he or any of us did not know he had. He died on June 4th, 2005. It was a fast acting cancer that killed him in a matter of weeks.

We miss him so much. Mamma said that I have shared enough because you have so many of these to read, but... he was called Poppy by his grandchildren and Grumpy Bear by his grandaughters who held him in the palm of their hands.

In closing, we want you to know that if he could he would be in Branson or wherever you meet next. He and our family always remembered our time in Germany with distinct pleasures (playing pinochle, picnics in the mountains near Heidelberg Castle, and of course he enjoyed his work!). We made so many friends there. Thank you for looking for him. It has been a pleasure to answer you. If we can do any thing else just let us know. Sincerely, Sherry Marks Manross and Bonnette Marks