Brianna Estrada
Staff Writer
Guy Marge, chairman of the advisory board for the college of business and public managements, died in February in Upland of pneumonia and pancreatic cancer. He was 77.
Mr. Marge was well known for his contributions to the University of La Verne and its students, specifically those in the College of Business and Public Management.
He served on the college’s advisory board for almost a decade and became the interim chairman of the board more than a year and a half ago.
Before spending most of his time serving the University, Mr. Marge was a CEO and president of many companies including Storm Industries.
His wife, Professor of Mathematics Joan Marge, said he traveled the world on business and after he retired, served on different boards to lend his knowledge and wisdom to others.
“He had a quick wit, keen insight and loving heart,” Joan Marge said. “He was a very, very special person.”
Mr. Marge was born in 1943 in New York. He completed both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business at Long Island University. It was during his college days that Mr. Marge met his future wife and lifelong partner, Joan, at a mixer at her school, Marymount Manhattan College.
Joan Marge said that they had been together ever since.
“He was my best friend,” said Joan Marge. “That’s what I always told my students. I told them to marry your best friend.”
This is a lesson and a love story that many of Joan’s students remember even semesters after taking her class.
One student, junior business administration major Sharon Hernandez, said that she could not believe the news when she heard of Mr. Marge’s passing.
“It’s really shocking and sad to hear,” Hernandez said. “Joan was always talking about Guy every class. She would call him my love. It makes me so sad to hear that he’s gone.”
Though Hernandez never got the chance to experience it, Mr. Marge went above and beyond for University of La Verne students.
Aside from being an active board member, every semester he volunteered to participate in mock interviews that would prepare students for the real world.
He also mentored students, introducing them to companies and executives he had connected with in the past and opening the doors for many Leos.
Paul Boychuk, assistant director of CBPM Career Services, said that during the time he spent working with Mr. Marge he could see how much he cared about bettering not only the school but the students.
“He was a great guy,” Boychuk said. “He always wanted to help students, always wanted to volunteer his time. He really cared about the community, how the students did and he cared about their futures.”
Boychuk is not the only one who shares these thoughts about Mr. Marge.
Abe Helou, dean of the college of business and public managements, said that while Mr. Marge was a quiet man, whenever he spoke he conveyed a message that students could learn from.
“The best way to describe Guy is a man of few words,” Helou said. “He had a very dry sense of humor but his few words will always force you to look deeper in your thoughts. He was a perfectionist and made sure everyone strove for those standards.”
Mr. Marge was also a huge supporter of REACH, a summer program that allowed high school students to have a college experience that also taught them how to create a business. In addition to this, Mr. Marge was also a participant of the annual CEO Summit.
Mr. Marge is survived by his wife Joan, two daughters, Christine and Nicole, as well as five grandchildren.
Brianna Estrada can be reached at brianna.estrada@laverne.edu.
So sad to learn of his passing. I worked for Mr. Marge many years ago at the Milhous Group. To my he was kinda like a James Kahn character, he was very witty, always polite but not in an overt way at all and he did command a great deal of respect from everyone in the office. When Mr. Marge drove into the parking lot it was on!