Frederic C. (Fritz) Marston of Ewing, N.J. died October 27th, 2017 in hospice care at the Robert Wood Johnson hospital in Hamilton, NJ. He was 77.
Born in Providence, R.I., he was the son of Frederic C. Marston Jr. and Helen Mount Marston. His father was a professor of English and American literature at Brown University and the University of Vermont; his mother taught mathematics at Rutgers University.
Mr. Marston attended Princeton (N.J.) High School before graduating from Brown University with the class of 1962.
He began his career as a marketing communications executive in New York City with the Benton & Bowles and Doyle Dane Bernbach advertising agencies before moving to Del Mar, Calif., to join CRM Inc., publishers of Psychology Today and Careers Today magazines. His experience there with college marketing led to his recruitment by Playboy Magazine in Chicago to direct the company’s College Bureau. He subsequently returned to the advertising business with Grey North and D’Arcy MacManus & Masius in Chicago before joining Manpower, Inc., the world’s largest temporary help firm, in Milwaukee, in 1980 as Vice President of U.S. Marketing and Public Relations. He spent the last 12 years of his marketing career as a Senior V.P. with BVK/McDonald in Milwaukee before retiring in 1997 and returning to Princeton. There, he worked part-time as a public relations consultant and part-time as an editor at Princeton’s weekly newspaper Town Topics.
Mr. Marston was an active volunteer who served on nine 501(c)3 boards of directors during his lifetime, including, in the Princeton area, the Princeton Family YMCA, Montgomery Center for the Arts, Princeton Pro Musica, Voices Chorale, and Greater Princeton Steinway Society.
An ardent competitor in sports as well as business, Mr. Marston was a lifelong tennis player, skier, and golfer. A former member of Hopewell Valley Golf Club in Hopewell, N.J., he took pride in having played 600 golf courses worldwide, on six continents and in 41 U.S. states. He was also a Life Master at tournament bridge.
He was predeceased by his wife Mary Jo Ulis in 1990. He is survived by his daughter Jaime Marston Cook and her husband Ash Cook of Denver, Colo.; two brothers, Winslow Marston (Patricia) of Morristown, N.J., and Christopher Marston (Patricia) of West Roxbury, Mass.; and 11 nephews and nieces.
A musical memorial service will be planned in New Jersey to celebrate his life. Condolences and remembrances may be sent to [email protected]. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or to a charity of the donor’s choice.
Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Franklin H. Rainear Jr., Affordable Funeral Service and Cremation, 1310 Prospect Street, Ewing, NJ 888-213-4090.