Morton Marks, 79, a successful Chicago wholesaler known for his relentless charity fundraising, died Saturday, Sept. 8, of a stroke at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Mr. Marks began his business career as an 18-year-old “jobber,” a middleman selling small items such as shoelaces and gum to shopkeepers. He ended it as the owner of Division Sales Inc., a firm with its own product lines and a warehouse in Itasca, said his son David. But more than his business success, Mr. Marks was known for his quirky, gregarious style and his ability to persuade people to open their wallets for a good cause, David Marks said. “His way of fundraising was unique to Morty Marks,” David Marks said. “He was never afraid of a stranger.” Mr. Marks rarely left the house without a packet of envelopes, addressed to a favored charity, and a pocket full of inexpensive gifts, David Marks said. Out at a restaurant, he would approach table after table, greeting people and presenting women with inexpensive rings, earrings or angels. He would then hand an envelope to the women or their husbands before moving on to his next stop. Many of those envelopes came back with money, filling the coffers of groups such as B’nai B’rith Youth Organization; the Variety Club, a charity that helped disabled children; and the Beth Shalom educational facility of Northbrook. Mr. Marks opened Division Sales in 1940 on Division Street, his son recalled. By the 1950s, Division Sales had 50 employees. Mr. Marks moved the company to progressively bigger locations–on California Avenue, then Roosevelt Road, the Merchandise Mart and finally Itasca. The family recently sold the business. Also surviving are his wife, Mary; another son, Jeffrey; a sister, Idelle; brothers Herman and Melvin; 10 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Service will be at noon Tuesday in Weinstein Family Services Wilmette Chapel, 111 Skokie Blvd., Wilmette.
