14
WHERE A R E
THEY N OW?
PROFESSOR EMERITUS THOMAS C. MARKS JR. LL.B. ’63:
FROM STETSON LAW
TO FRECKLES FARM
B Y B R A N D I PALMER A N D B I A N C A LOPE Z
When Professor Emeritus Thomas C. Marks Jr.
retired from teaching law for more than 34 years
at Stetson, his wife Nancy encouraged the
couple to move out to the country, to a 1.5-acre plot of land
in what Marks calls “horse country” in Marion County, just
outside the Ocala city limits. The Marks’ house is closer to
family and is home to 32 special needs
rescue dogs, named Freckles Farm after
one of the dogs.
Marks published more than 60 scholarly
works during his time on the faculty
and the Thomas C. Marks Jr.
Scholarship in Constitutional Law is
named in his honor. He attended
Stetson Law as a student in the 1960s,
and has been an integral member of the
Stetson community for over 50 years, inducted into the
Stetson Law Hall of Fame in 2007.
Upon graduating from Stetson Law
in 1963, Marks clerked for six
months before changing his reserve
military status to active duty in the
U.S. Army. He served in Vietnam,
and remained in the reserves for
another nine years, leaving the
military with the rank of major.
Marks joined Stetson’s law faculty in
1973, teaching U.S. and Florida
constitutional law until retiring in
2007.
Marks was a favorite among his
students – who spearheaded efforts to
fund the scholarship in his name. He maintained the
philosophy that tough subjects like constitutional law were
best tackled with a little humor, and started every class with
a joke. His office was filled with life-sized cardboard
cutouts of John Wayne, Spock, President Bush “43,” and a
character from Lord of the Rings.
Once, a student came to speak with Marks during office
hours but seeing figures in his office, did not want to
interrupt their conversation. Dean and Professor of Law
Emeritus Bruce Jacob passed by and asked who she was
waiting for and she replied, “Professor Marks.” An hour
after class, Jacob returned to his office and again passed the
student in the hallway still waiting on Professor Marks.
Jacob poked his head in Marks’ door and exclaimed,
“There’s no one there. It’s just Professor Marks.” The
student peeped around the door to see that the students she
thought she saw were actually just his cardboard cut-outs.
Today, Marks’ life after Stetson is full of purpose and fun.
When Marks and his wife Nancy attended a dog adoption
day at Petco, a little gray shih-tzu caught their attention
who became the impetus for their dog rescue. They adopted
the shih-tzu and brought him home to the four dogs the
Marks already had. The couple then began working with
rescue agencies to adopt dogs with special needs who were
blind or crippled and desperately needed loving homes.
Soon, a home with five dogs became one with 32 whom the
Marks care for daily.
“It’s one of the ways we contribute to society,” Marks said of
the dog rescue.
Marks graduated from Stetson Law in 1963. Marks retired from teaching at Stetson in 2007.
Marks turns 80 years old in March and is celebrating 50
years of marriage with his wife. The couple enjoys hosting
faculty and alumni gatherings in their home, where Marks
is currently writing a piece about longtime colleague Dean
and Professor of Law Emeritus Jacob for the next issue of
the Stetson Law Review.
Marks’ advice to alumni is to find the balance and have a
life beyond practicing law.
“What is life if all you do is work?” Marks said. “There are
many ways you can find to give back to society.”
Professor Emeritus
Tom Marks