Gary Marx

gary marx
Obituary: Gary Marx, AASA’s Influential Voice on Communications

By Jay P. Goldman

Gary D. Marx, whose two-decade leadership of communications at AASA significantly raised the association’s public profile across the country and beyond, died early Friday (May 31) at the age of 80.

His family said he died in hospice care at home of complications from a long fight against prostate cancer.

Marx’s work from 1979 to 1998 as associate executive director of communications propelled the organization of superintendents and school administrators to a much more prominent position among educators and news organizations in the U.S. and abroad. He and the communications staff he assembled launched a vigorous publishing program that included dozens of books on various aspects of school leadership, presided over the expansion in 1981 of The School Administrator from a modest newsletter into a glossy magazine and founded with corporate support the National Superintendent of the Year program, now in its 32nd year.

“If there were a Mount Rushmore monument for the school PR profession, Gary would be there,” said Rich Bagin, executive director of the National School Public Relations Association.

Articulate Engagement

An astute verbal communicator stemming from his earlier years as a radio announcer in Nebraska and his native South Dakota, Marx made thousands of personal connections with editors and reporters at news organizations from coast to coast, making AASA a go-to deadline source for insight on almost any subject relevant to the operations of public schools. He never passed up an opportunity to address superintendents in formal and informal settings.

“He was a man of the world and always focused forward,” said Arnold Fege, a veteran of public education advocacy who also came to work at AASA in 1979. “But he also had one foot back in Manchester, S.D. He could relate to the common person.”

Marx’s tenure coincided with the transformation in the communications arena from traditional means of information sharing to the start of the electronic era. AASA launched its first web site in the mid-1990s.

A special edition of AASA’s magazine in 2015 that marked the 150th anniversary of the organization’s start reported that Marx’s arrival as director of communications saw the publishing and external publicity efforts take flight.

“In associations, a lot of people want to do a lot of wonderful things, but the association also has to produce enough revenue to support them,” Gary said in an anniversary edition article by Glenn Cook. “Many of the publications that were being produced were sort of driven by a grant or a joint project of some type. They weren’t necessarily motivated by a hard look at the needs of the people in the field, and that’s one of the things I tried to do.”

Member Influence

Marx took an integrated approach to publications, communications and member services. He used feedback from extensive member surveys to develop AASA’s products that ranged from filmstrips with accompanying guidebooks to videos. The most successful publication, Parents: Partners in Education, was translated into five languages and sold almost one million copies.

Using survey data, Marx directed a series of critical issues reports, which he subsequently used as background documents in reaching out to news media. As the anniversary publication reported: “Marx says he believed that AASA should take on the role of a ‘good adviser and counselor’ when working with members of the media, which led to more phone calls — and quotes in the press — for AASA.”

Toward the end of his AASA tenure, Marx convened what he called “a Council of 21,” a collection of leading experts in various fields to fuel a conference on schooling for the 21st century that he organized at Mount Vernon and subsequently became a widely sought AASA book.

After leaving AASA, he founded and ran the Center for Public Outreach out of his home office in Vienna, Va. He promoted his services as a future-oriented leadership consultant, think tank executive, public intellectual and speaker, and his assignments with education, business and community groups over the past 20 years took him to all 50 states and 81 countries on six continents.

His most recent books explored societal trends and the intersection of education with other forces in community life. These include Twenty-One Trends for the 21st Century…Out of the Trenches and into the Future, published by Education Week Press, and Future-Focused Leadership, published by ASCD.

Recognized Widely

Marx was well-positioned for the national stage he assumed at AASA, having spent a decade in radio and television news and then an eight-year period as communication director for two leading school systems - the Westside Community Schools in Omaha, Neb., and the Jefferson County Public Schools outside Denver,

He received AASA’s Distinguished Service Award and the National School Public Relations Association’s highest honor, the President’s Award.

“Gary devoted his life-long career to the principles of engagement leading to democratic societies whether they be a small town in South Dakota or in an Eastern European village,” said NSPRA’s Bagin. “His love of travel and learning and his willingness to share and teach what he learned helped mold him into a stellar role model for those who got to know and appreciate Gary Marx.”

Dan Domenech, AASA executive director, called Marx “an institution at AASA.” The two worked together during Domenech’s years on AASA’s Executive Committee and then as an officer. “I came to regard Gary as the voice of AASA. All of us that attended our national conferences will remember the booming voice that came from somewhere back stage, giving directions or announcing the next speaker. Like the wizard in the ‘Wizard of Oz,’ people had a hard time reconciling the voice with the slightly built individual behind it. But, like the voice, Gary was always larger than what he appeared to be.”

AASA invited him to revive that backstage role at the association’s 2015 national conference in San Diego, Calif., which celebrated the 150th anniversary.

“When looking up at the sky, I will not be surprised if at some point I hear the booming voice of Gary Marx,” Domenech added.

Memorial Service

He is survived by his wife Judy, sons John and Daniel and grandson Julian.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, June 4, in the chapel at Money and King Funeral Home in Vienna, Va. Burial will take place in De Smet, S.D., his hometown.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that remembrance donations be made to the Gary and Judy Marx Endowment Servant Leader Scholarship Award, University of South Dakota Foundation, Wagner Center, 1110 N. Dakota St., Vermillion, S.D. 57069.

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  1. Gary never forgot his small-town South Dakota roots. He left his mark on both Manchester and DeSmet. Gary’s has been a friendship my kids and I will remember fondly.

  2. I am truly sorry for your loss; please accept my sincere condolences. I hope the family will find comfort and strength in Jesus promise, along with our Heavenly Father Jehovah, of the earthly resurrection, found at John 5:28, 29, when death will be eliminated forever (Revelations 21:4). Truly, what a glorious, and almost unbelievable day that will be of a resurrection on Paradise Earth, with our loved ones (Psalm 37: 11, 29).

  3. Judy, my condolences to you and your family. Glad we got to see each other for many years at the National Teacher of the Year Gala, and it was great to connect with Gary several times these past few years as I’ve moved forward in my post-NTOY Program career. He was a true friend and supporter…and he volunteered that, I didn’t have to ask him!? All the best to you especially in this difficult time. Warmly Andy Drewlinger

  4. I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your loved one. When someone we love dies, it’s natural to want to see that person again. God promises us that He will comfort us in our trials if we go to him in prayer. 2 Corinthians 1:3 calls him the God of all comfort. I’d like to share with y’all this link that shows 12 steps on coping with grief that is good for sharing. I have personally found this very comforting and I hope y’all do as well. https://www.jw.org/finder?wtlocale=E&docid=102018086&srcid=share


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