Obituary
Marshall Alan Heyman Minkin: Beloved Husband, Father and Grandfather.
Marshall Minkin, 76, of Towson, Maryland, passed away at home on July 5, 2020 surrounded by his family.
Marshall Minkin was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on September 5, 1943. In his youth, Marshall was a member of the Original Little League in Williamsport, Pa, tallying 24 home-runs over the first three years of the organization's existence. Even as Marshall aged out of little league, his love of the game stayed strong and he became the chief umpire for his younger brother David’s team. In 1959, Marshall entered the Atlantic Junior Sportscaster Contest for the Philadelphia Phillies. He was selected as the winner, being given an opportunity to broadcast an inning in the booth at Connie Mack Stadium as the Phillies took on the Cardinals on August 17th, 1959. In 1976, at age 33, he was selected Young Man of the Year for his hometown Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Marshall attended Williamsport High School, where he was the Editor-in-Chief of the yearbook, playing baseball, basketball, and quarterbacking for the football team, graduating in 1961. He graduated from Lycoming College in 1965 with a degree in political science. Marshall’s career spanned leadership of the family-owned steel company, Minkin Industries, in the late 1960’s and 1970’s. After driving the sale of the company in the early 1980’s, he became Vice President of Luntz Corporation, and then continued his career in the steel industry through the 1990’s and 2000’s as a Vice President of Levand Steel. During his career, Marshall was the President of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the Institute of Scrap, Iron and Steel. In addition, Marshall was an adventurous entrepreneur including co-founding the original Quarterback Challenge, which is now produced by the NFL.
Marshall married his sweetheart, the former Helen (Honey) Brown on June 21, 1964. They recently celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary. Along with his wife, Honey, Marshall is survived by his daughters Lissa Minkin of Saratoga, CA, Toba Minkin Rainess of Baltimore, MD, and son Matthew Minkin, along with his beloved daughter-in-law Ingrid Minkin of Towson, MD. He was the much loved and admired Papa of Sara, Jake, Noah, and Sofia.
Marsh, as he was known to those closest to him, was a true original. He sang beautifully, played piano by ear and wrote poetry. He was an inventor, a record-setting athlete, a creative leader and marketer in business, an inspiring speaker and confidant to all he met. He had the rare ability to make whomever he was engaging feel like they were the only person in the room. His empathy and kindness knew no bounds, and he shared his unconditional love with everyone he met.
Marshall was the ultimate optimist. No matter the obstacle, he would find a way through it. He handled his Parkinson's diagnosis as a fierce competitor, never losing hope over the 21 years he had the disease that he would beat it. He never gave up mentally. It was his body that just couldn’t keep up. He passed his strength, integrity, kindness, humor and creativity to all of his three children and four grandchildren. He was a brilliant storyteller with many unique life adventures that his family will continue to regale for many years to come.
A private funeral service will be held graveside at Har Sinai on July 7, 2020 at 11:30 am with Rabbi Dana Saroken of Beth El officiating. Due to Covid-19, shiva will be held via Zoom. Sol Levinson will be handling the funeral arrangements.
Memorial donations may be made to Maryland Association for Parkinson Support at www.marylandparkinsonsupport.org. The family wishes to extend their gratitude to Marshall’s dedicated caregivers from Best Health Care and the team at Gilchrist Hospice.
The memory of Marshall Minkin will live on with his beloved wife, children and grandchildren forever.
Arrangements by Sol Levinson. www.sollevinson.com