Marvin Jerome Marnock

Marvin Jerome Marnock, 86, died peacefully Thursday, November 8, 2012 at his residence in Asheville, NC with his wife by his side. A native of San Antonio, TX, Mr. Marnock was a veteran of the US Navy, having served in WWII and the Korean War. He served on the USS Little Rock and was awarded the WWII Victory Medal and National Defense Medal. He earned degrees in law, math, physics, and electronics. He began his career in the US Patent Office in Washington, DC as a patent examiner. He then worked 20 years as a patent attorney for NASA at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX during the height of the Apollo missions. He was also a past president of the Houston Intellectual Property Law Association. He raised five children, had 12 grandchildren, and was married for nearly 53 years to the same woman, Mary Louise Lent Marnock. He rarely swore and then only at the TV during a Houston Oilers game. He had a gift for solving puzzles and easily could have been a Wheel of Fortune champion. He was preceded in death by his parents, Mary Woller Marnock and Alfred A. Marnock, two brothers, Alfred Marnock and Woodrow Marnock, two sisters Myrtle Marnock and Mary Lorraine Van De Walle, and one grandson William Travis Marnock. He is survived by his wife Mary Louise Lent Marnock; two daughters, Caroline Marnoch and her husband, Robert Carey, of Portland, OR and Jane McKillip and her husband, Kirk, of Houston, TX; three sons James Marnock, MD and his wife Maryann, of Asheville, Patrick Marnock and his wife Shelly, of Frisco, TX and Cian Marnagh and his wife Elessa, of Milford, CT; as well as eleven grandchildren. He lived a long and full life. A memorial service will be held at 12:00 PM on Saturday in the Pulliam Chapel at Givens Estates with Rev. Father C. Morris Boyd officiating. A private family interment will be held at Lewis Memorial Park.