It has been decades since Barbara Mark worked at the front desks of the Ocean Beach Resort and later the Royal Atlantic in Montauk, but she made a big impression, and her son, John Mark, said this week that people who worked with her there still ask after her.
Mrs. Mark, who was 90 and had been in declining health, died at home in Amagansett on Friday. A resident of Montauk for nearly 40 years, she had recently moved to Amagansett with her son.
She was born on July 4, 1933, in New York City to John Kohout and the former Alice Prahl. She grew up in Flushing, Queens, and graduated from Bayside High School.
Her father owned a casino in Seaside Heights, N.J., and that is where she met her future husband, Richard Mark, who worked for her father. The couple were married on Dec. 5, 1959.
They lived in New Jersey after their marriage, but moved to northern New York State, near the Canadian border, in 1970. There, when her sons were young, she would buy and sell antiques at local flea markets.
They moved to Montauk in 1982. Mrs. Mark’s family had been visiting for many years, and had owned a house there since the 1950s.
In addition to working in hotels, she also helped care for the children of her sister Alice Logie, who survives. They are Juliette and Jeannine Logie and Alison and Elizabeth Burke. Juliette Logie now lives in East Hampton. Jeannine Logie is in Michigan, Alison Burke is in East Hampton, and Elizabeth Burke lives in Springs.
Mrs. Mark enjoyed going to the beach and finding beach glass, her son said.
In addition to her son, Mrs. Mark is survived by a granddaughter, Sarah Mark of Manhattan, and, in addition to Alice Logie, three other siblings: Fran Rouzeau of Gales Ferry, Conn., Peter DeConinck of Arizona, and Joan Brown of Patchogue. She leaves many nieces and nephews.
Her husband died in 2018, and her son Richard Mark died in 1982. She was also predeceased by a sister, Eleanor Sullivan, and her husband, Harry Sullivan, with whom she was very close, and by another sister, Mary Pigno.
The family will receive visitors tomorrow from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. A service will be held on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Montauk Community Church.
Her family has suggested memorial contributions to the Montauk Fire Department, 12 Flamingo Avenue, Montauk 11954.
