Ken Marskell.courtesy of the family
Ken Marskell: Charismatic. Entrepreneurial. Driven. Selfless. Born March 4, 1942, in Toronto; died April 23, 2019, in Elora, Ont.; of pancreatic cancer; aged 77.
Ken’s charm and wit often made him the life of the party, but it was his drive and integrity that fuelled three careers and led him to shepherd a million-dollar donation as a legacy to his parents.
One of three sons born to Victor and May Marskell, both Baptist pastors, Ken grew up in the church that his parents built in Mississauga. The boys would sit through Sunday School, then chase girls around the church basement, but his parents instilled in them the importance of community and giving back. A catalyst for Ken’s lifelong drive was his father’s guidance, “Don’t wait for your ship to come in, go out and meet it.”
Following that advice, Ken worked tirelessly to buy a green 1956 Chevy convertible. With Elvis blaring on the radio, he drove it to Etobicoke Collegiate, where he excelled in football and mentored younger players. Ken loved spending time on the links and became a golf instructor after high school. At least until his mother insisted he get “a real job.”
He started in The Globe and Mail mail room in his early 20s. Working his way up, he became responsible for delivery and increasing circulation. He got creative. On the day John F. Kennedy was shot, for example, Ken had friends and family knocking on doors to sell a special edition of the newspaper.
Diane Donnelly was Ken’s executive assistant at The Globe, and the two fell in love. They married and had two sons, Jeff in 1974 and Sean in 1976. Ken coached his sons’ sports teams and took them to dozens of baseball parks over the years. “Christmas was his thing,” Jeff remembers. “He spent too much, not just on us. He was always making sure everyone got their favourite gifts. Big, expensive gifts.”
Always dapper in a three-piece suit, Ken was successful but not complacent. While working full-time, he earned a BA and then an executive MBA. He would help launch ROB Magazine and the paper’s national edition. After he and Diane split, he moved in with Paula Armstrong, whom he also met at the newspaper.
Ken would leave The Globe to run a small publishing company and expand its readership across the country. Eventually, he and Paula would become business partners, too. The couple started the Marskell Group, which connects employers and job seekers in health care. “It was never about the money [for Ken],” Paula remembers. "He really wanted to help people and worked hard to help match exhibiting hospitals with nurses.”
They sold the company last year, but retirement for Ken meant charming customers in a decor boutique he owned with Paula in Elora, Ont. It also meant working closely with his brother David and the trustees of Lakeview Baptist Church, which was now closing. The building was sold to a new congregation and the proceeds – $1-million – were transferred to another charity: THEMUSEUM in Kitchener, Ont. Ken felt it was a fitting legacy for his parents and those who helped the church.
In early April, Ken became ill with pancreatic cancer. Thankfully, he felt no pain, and Ken and Paula’s home was filled with family and friends who would drop in to share their love and say goodbye. He was gone in less than a month.
David Marskell is Ken’s brother.
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