Edmund “Larry” Marks, 94

December 04, 2020

Edmund “Larry” Marks passed away December 4th, 2020 two months short of his 95th birthday after a brief illness.

Larry was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1926 but grew up in Passaic, NJ. During WWII he enlisted in the Army to become a pilot but did not qualify because he was color blind. Instead, he entered the gunnery program. During a training exercise he accidentally discharged a rifle and hit a target that few had ever hit, so they made him a gunnery instructor for the ball turret on the B17. In combat, the ball turret was considered the most dangerous job in the war but as an instructor he never saw combat. That accidental misfiring is the reason the rest of his story continues.

Larry always said he was very fortunate because his career and hobby centered around the same thing: ice cream. In 1949 he earned his BA in Dairy Management from Colorado A&M and his journey into the ice cream industry began. Beginning as Production Manager of a major western Colorado ice cream maker, Larry also served as General Operational Manager for three different retail ice cream chains and was consultant to several others. In 1958 he developed and supervised the ice cream and soda fountain operations for the American Pavilion at the Brussels World’s Fair in Belgium, introducing American style ‘soft serve’ to the European continent. Counted among the biggest fans of this new frozen treat was the reigning king, Leopold III.

In 1968 he moved to Lewisburg, PA to become a Vice President of Weis Markets where he developed the Amity House chain of ice cream and sandwich shops.

Penn Dairies brought Larry and his family to Lancaster in 1972 as general manager of the PennSupreme restaurants where he developed and built Amity House Ice Cream shops. Their first two locations were at the newly built Park City Mall and the Shoppes at the Village of Olde Hickory.

Later, Larry returned to the supply side of ice cream and spent the next 25 years as one of the industry’s major flavor ingredient sources. He also served as Executive Secretary for two major industry trade associations as well as serving on the board of another.

In 1978 he founded the “Ice Screamers”, a club devoted to the collecting and preserving the memorabilia of the old-time ice cream parlor and soda fountain. The club grew to over 1,000 members from around the world who would meet once a year in Lancaster to exhibit and trade items.

Larry was the country’s foremost historian on what has become a significant part of American heritage: the ice cream parlor and soda fountain. He was a featured speaker at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. as well as many industry groups such as the American Dairy Association, the New England Ice Cream and Restaurant Association, the National Ice Cream Retailers Association. He was also seen on all three major television networks and was featured on a PBS program about the history of ice cream.

He published a book, Ice Cream Collectibles in 1983 and became a popular speaker for the Lancaster Speakers Bureau. For several years he was the official historical spokesperson for Turkey Hill Ice Cream.

In 1987 he developed “Successful Ice Cream Retailing” a four-day seminar for prospective ice cream entrepreneurs. The program became so successful that Penn State incorporated it into their internationally recognized ‘Ice Cream Short Course, ’ a three-week extensive program on ice cream manufacturing. As an instructor he taught students from all four corners of the globe.

One unfulfilled dream of Larry’s was to convince the U.S. Post Office to issue a commemorative stamp honoring ice cream as America’s favorite food.

Larry was predeceased by Phyllis, his best friend and wife of 61 years: his parents Joseph and Bessie Marks, and a daughter, Linda. He leaves behind his sister, Sara Jean Nicely, of Southwick, MA, son David and his wife Peg of Lititz, their two children Hayley, Boston, MA and Hannah, Lancaster PA, daughter Sharon Zecchinelli and her husband Vincent of Vermont, grandson Joel Ramsey, of Harrisburg and granddaughter Courtney Algeo, her husband Bob and their two children of Minneapolis, Larry’s great-grandchildren.