Leadership

In Memoriam (1942-2009)

An iconic business leader, Frederick Marx was a valued counselor and mentor and above all else, a friend to countless people.

“I don’t know what this city is going to do without Fred Marx,” said Florine Mark, President and Chair of the Board of The WW Group and longtime friend.“He was the kindest, smartest, most terrific man.”

Marx suffered heart failure while at his Bloomfield Hills home Nov. 1, 2009. He was 67.

Born on March 23, 1942 in Denver, Marx became a prominent business leader in metro Detroit. After a long career with Dayton Hudson where he ended his tenure as senior vice president, Marx and Michael Layne opened Marx Layne, a public relations and marketing agency, in 1987.

“Fred was a wonderful friend and business partner,” said Layne. “He deeply loved his wife and children.  He loved people and was genuinely interested in them.  Everybody knew Fred Marx and Fred knew everybody. He loved work. His clients and employees were like family to him. He was creative and brilliant and will be missed greatly.”

“Marx was a loving family man who had great pride in his children’s accomplishments,” said Sheldon Toll, a retired partner of Honigman Miller. "Fred was passionate about his work and was often referred to as a retail guru by others, frequently being quoted in the media across the country for his expertise … he knew everyone; he was the unofficial mayor of metro Detroit.”

"As busy as Fred was, his family always came first,” said Bernie Moray, founder of Gorman’s Furniture.

Marx’s first retail job was at a shoe store on Friday nights and Saturdays when he was 16. The job was on commission - a dollar an hour plus 1 percent. From there, his love of retail and marketing led to careers at Jacobson’s, Macy’s and Federated before joining Dayton Hudson.

“Fred was an incredibly personable gentleman who got along with everyone,” said Joseph L. Hudson Jr. “He came into Hudson’s at an important time and showed great leadership. He was a friend who cared about the community while at Hudson’s and continued to care about the community. He will be greatly missed.”

Marx is the son of Florence Marx Zox and the late doctor Maurice Zox of Columbus, Ohio. He is the son-in-law of Eleanor Sloman and the late Robert Sloman. He is survived by his loving wife of 40 years, Sally Sloman Marx; two daughters, Julie of Bloomfield Hills and Carolyn of Chicago and two sons, Andrew of Chicago and Scott a senior at the University of Michigan Business School.

Marx is also survived by sisters Diana Marx Bloch of Columbus, Ohio, Barbara Panzer of Austin, Texas, Dr. Sherry Zox (Arnold Deutchman) of Columbus, Ohio, and Laurie Watkins (Gary) of Denver.  He is the brother-in-law of Steven and Margaret Sloman of New York City.

Michael Layne has been serving established and growing companies in the Detroit metropolitan area since the early 1980's. Over the past twenty years, he has provided strategic communications counsel to numerous industry leaders as an extension of their corporate brand.

As a founding partner of Marx Layne & Company in 1987, he has been instrumental in building Michigan 's largest independently owned public relations agency. Layne attributes the emergence of Marx Layne & Company to the development and retention of a diverse client base and the careful building of a dedicated and capable team of public relations professionals.

Layne regularly plans and implements unique, results-orientated public relations programs for clients in a broad range of industry sectors, including real estate, hospitality/food service, technology, entertainment, professional services, sports, manufacturing, retail, financial services, consumer products and communications.

As both the demand for information about companies grows and the media becomes more complex and fragmented, Layne's experience with a broad range of clients provides a basis for creating ongoing, original and highly successful programs. Layne serves clients with their communications needs in major metropolitan areas across the nation.

He strongly believes in personalized service, availability and accountability. Layne respects the correlation between dollars spent by a client and results.

Aside from the daily rigors of running a public relations agency, Layne is active in the community. He is a member of the Board of Trustees for Don Bosco Hall, the Automotive Press Association and Public Relations Society of America.

As a Partner, Szudarek counsels clients in the automotive, high tech and consumer product sectors. He is directly responsible for directing a broad range of public relations, marketing, communications and media relations programs. He previously served with a Fortune 500 Company and has been on both the corporate and agency side of communications business, understanding first hand the many issues and challenges businesses face today in this fast paced, competitive world.

Prior to joining Marx Layne, Szudarek worked for another metropolitan Detroit area public relations agency, where his efforts were focused primarily in the heavy-duty trucking and automotive original equipment and aftermarket industries. There, he serviced a number of multi-billion dollar corporations and assisted in implementing marketing communication programs for use throughout North America .

Szudarek's academic credentials include a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Wayne State University . He currently holds membership with the Automotive Press Association and the Public Relations Society of America.

A Senior Vice President with Marx Layne & Company, Pardo heads up the hospitality division of the agency. She manages accounts ranging from multi-unit and single-unit restaurants to one of the leading national contract management companies, and a world-class hotel. She also serves and counsels clients in the retail, legal and not-for-profit industries. Pardo is responsible for managing teams that perform a range of public relations, marketing and media relations programs.

Her areas of specialty include media relations, adversity communications management, and coordinating large-scale events. Pardo is a respected public relations professional with extensive experience developing and implementing comprehensive media campaigns.

Prior to joining Marx Layne, Pardo practiced business law. Pardo has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Michigan and a Juris Doctor from the University of Detroit-Mercy School of Law. She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the Women's Economic Club.

Alan Upchurch counsels clients in the real estate, financial services, retail, health care industries as well as non-profit corporations. Upchurch provides clients with effective strategies to meet their marketing and public relations goals with expertise in media relations, focused communications planning, writing, and adversity management. He also specializes in media training to help executives and business owners utilize the media with appropriate messages to customers, employees, investors and other key stakeholders.

With a BA degree in Communications from Michigan State University, Upchurch spent 24 years in television news as a photographer, writer, producer, and newsroom executive including 20 years at ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV Detroit working as a daily news producer, special events supervisor and News Director. This vast news experience serves him well. Many years of daily performance under fire brings a unique understanding of hard and fast deadlines, and the importance of working quickly and accurately. Alan is married with two children.

Emile Mahanti assists clients in developing and maintaining customized, focused long-term communications programs. It is his priority to provide clients with personalized professional service that is responsive to, will meet and, hopefully exceed, their needs and goals. Mahanti counsels a variety of clients ranging from the non-profit, industrial, environmental, transportation, real estate and legal professions. In addition to media relations, he is frequently engaged by clients in adversity communications and B2B marketing initiatives.

A graduate with high distinction from the University of Michigan at Dearborn with a BA in History, Mahanti also brings a decade of media experience as background to counsel clients on media relations. He was a producer, editor, reporter, writer and engineer with WWJ Newsradio 950 AM in Detroit and a reporter/anchor with KNAU in Flagstaff , AZ. This experience has proven that he knows what it takes to communicate effectively and creatively. Working in news taught him how to execute quickly while paying close attention to detail. His hard nose, no-nonsense style has proven effective to establishing long-term relationships with clients.

Some personal notes: It is a pleasure to work here at Marx Layne, where the teamwork concept is actualized and not just a theory. "We" are here for you. The personal growth I gain from working with each and every one of my clients only enables me to further meet and exceed my clients' needs. Most importantly, I am truly blessed in my life to be married to an absolutely wonderful woman who takes care of me and our two healthy and beautiful boys.

Cherry joined the Marx Layne team in 2004 after completing an internship with the agency and serving as a public relations and marketing consultant for an area retailer.

As vice president, Cherry is part of the agency’s management team, responsible for supervising account staff, facilitating strategic planning, implementing operational initiatives and managing organizational development. She oversees clients in a broad range of industry sectors including retail, nonprofit, real estate and emerging technologies. She heads the agency’s growing social media division.

She is responsible for strategizing and directing public relations initiatives for the annual Chrysler Arts, Beats & Eats Labor Day weekend festival and Detroit’s Winter Blast. Additionally, in February 2009, she directed the public relations team for NCAA Final Four ancillary events in Detroit.

Additionally, Cherry is often called upon by area businesses, professional organizations and educational institutions to share her thoughts on topics such as social media and the changing retail landscape.

Cherry has sat on the Regional Board of Destination Imagination, an international organization that teaches creative problem solving to school-aged children, for more than a decade. She is a CASL Alumni Affiliate Board of Governors member at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Neanderthal Acting Company board member and is involved in the Detroit Regional Chamber, Detroit Synergy and Fusion Detroit.

Currently pursuing a master's degree in public relations and organizational communication at Wayne State University, Cherry holds a bachelors of science degree in microbiology and a bachelors of arts degree in communication from the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

She can be found on Twitter @JLCherry.