Reuben O. “Mark” Marketon, Quartermaster Chief Senior, USN (Ret.), passed away on June 18, 2008, after a lengthy and courageous battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was deeply loved by his family, and admired and respected by those who knew him.
He was born in Ottertail County, Minn., on Sept. 1, 1930, to the late Joseph and Gertrude Marketon. After living the life of a farm boy, he sought new adventures and joined the Navy in 1948. During his more than 21 years in the service, he spent more than 17 years at sea, being a ship’s navigator on the USS Denebola, USS Vulcan, USS Midway, USS Staten Island, USS Burton Island, and USS Diamondhead. While assigned to the USS Vulcan, he participated in the naval blockade of Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962. He also was in naval deployments to the Mediterranean Sea and visited Antarctica twice. In October 1969, he retired from the Navy and moved to Oak Harbor, living in the Hillcrest neighborhood for 38 years. Shortly after leaving the Navy, he operated a small business, Ace Television, and later worked as an office machine technician for Island Office Equipment. He spent the last 18 years of his working career working for the Maytag corporation, fueling aircraft on Ault Field and the Seaplane Base, retiring in 1995.
On October 12, 1957 he married Irma Olich, and on October 12, 2007 they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
Mark was hopelessly addicted to all kinds of salmon, especially smoked, and also held a special fondness for king and Dungeness crab. He took great pleasure fishing for salmon and steelhead, crabbing, and digging for clams. He was also an avid fan of bingo, and spent many evenings with his wife at the Swinomish Bingo Hall. For many years he was a regular on the local bowling circuit, and served as secretary of the men’s Tuesday night Classic league at Oak Bowl for a number of years. In his later years, he enjoyed gardening, helping Irma make crafts they sold at local craft fairs, and was a big fan of the Seattle Mariners, catching every game he could
Mark was known by those close to him for having a good sense of humor, and was the type to play a joke on someone and never be suspected as the culprit. A good example of this is when he told his son Kevin, who was 9 at the time, that the SeaFirst building in Seattle was the box the Space Needle came in. The ever-trusting Kevin believed this until he was 15.
Mark is survived by his loving wife, Irma, his son Kevin and daughter in law Doris of Greenville, S.C. He is also survived by his granddaughter Nichol Huntington and her husband Jason, and two great-grandchildren, Shiloh and Jaiden Huntington, all of DeRidder, Louis.
A celebration of Mark’s life will be held Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 1 p.m. at Burley Funeral Chapel with a reception following at The American Legion Post. Arrangements were entrusted to Burley Funeral Chapel, where you may go online at www.burleyfuneralchapel.com and sign a guest book.
