MARCHING.COM: Marvin Marker, Long Beach's 'Music Man,' dies at 74

By Al Rudis, Long Beach Press-Telegram

Long Beach Junior Concert Band director Marvin Marker in 1997, surrounded by some of the awards bestowed upon the group since Marker organized it in 1952. (Kenny Kwok/Press-Telegram)

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Dec. 7, 2009) — Not even death can keep the Music Man of Long Beach from marching.

Marvin Marker, founder and head of the Long Beach Junior Concert Band, marched with his group at last Saturday's Belmont Shore Christmas Parade.

Sunday morning (December 6), he took a flight to Denver, Colo., but he collapsed and died at the airport there. He was 74.

Thursday night on KCOP Channel 13, he'll be marching again next to the band's banner as it escorts Santa Claus at the end of the Hollywood Christmas Parade for the 47th year in a row. The parade was held Nov. 29 and recorded for Thursday's showing that begins at 8 p.m.

Marker, who was honored by the Long Beach City Council as the "Music Man of Long Beach" in 1998, founded the Junior Concert Band in 1952. The young trumpet player had just graduated from Wilson High and was looking for something to do in the summer. He has led the band ever since.

Marker has no survivors. "Marvin was an only child," said Carrie Daquiado Monday. Daquiado was in the flag corps of the band while her husband, Lonny, was a drummer. Lonny has been the band's drum instructor since 1979.

"He never married," said Daquiado. "The band was his child. We are his family."

He treated band members like his children, sometimes taking lapses of discipline personally, she said. "He would yell and scream. 'You promised me you were going to be here. We were counting on you. You let me down. You let the band down."'

Even harsher tongue-lashings were administered to those who got in the way of the band, which was always a financial struggle to maintain. "He lived and breathed the band," said Daquiado. "When he fought with the City Council for money for the kids, it was, 'How could you let the band down. We support you, and we're there for everything you've ever asked us to do paradewise in the city, and you can't even give us the bus money to transport us there.' He was always fighting for that."

In the early 1960s, the band, whose official members are ages 10 to 21, had as many as 156 marchers and 47 auxiliary members handling the banners, shields, flags and batons. Today it numbers fewer than 50 but still maintains a busy performing schedule, sometimes supplemented by alumni.

"The alumni love to march in the Belmont Shore and Hollywood parades," said Daquiado. "If we have uniforms, they will actually come from out of town for like a month before and rehearse with the band. They love the band. At the Hollywood Parade, I had a 10-year-old all the way up to a 54-year-old — counting Marvin, 74.

"There are all different ages and walks of life. When you are in here, you are with anybody and everybody. We accept them with open arms. That's what they appreciated Marvin for.

"A lot of people attribute what they do in life to Marvin and to the band. A lot of our alumni are police officers, professional musicians and corporate managers. And they all say, 'I learned how to do this from Marvin. He taught me how to be a good person," she said.

Funeral services are pending. In lieu of flowers, donations are being accepted to the Long Beach Junior Concert Band, 3221 Industry Drive, Signal Hill, CA 90755.

View a video of the Long Beach Junior Concert Band's televised performance in the 1993 South Gate (California) Christmas Parade. Note the band's trick identification banner:

Story by Al Rudis and photo by Kenny Kwok of the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Reprinted with permission.

Copyright 2009 Marching.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published or redistributed without permission.

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Marvin Marker, Long Beach's 'Music Man,' dies at 74