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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Monday, January 31, 2022

Distinguished Allentown Zoning Lawyer Suddenly Passes Away

Mark Malkames, a distinguished Allentown zoning lawyer, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday.  He practiced law in Allentown with his father, William G Malkames, and brother, Bill K Malkames. 

Mark was a 1976 graduate of Salisbury High School, after which he received his bachelor's degree from Ursinus College (1980) and law degree from Delaware Law School (1983). He was unmarried. As he would tell me, the law was his mistress. 

In addition to his father and brother, Mark is survived by a sister. 

I am deeply saddened to learn about Mark's death. I first got to know him while covering zoning cases in Bethlehem. In addition to his deep understanding of the intricacies of zoning law, what set him apart from so many others is that he was a real gentleman. 

I've never seen him lose his cool or act in any but a professional manner, even in the most trying of circumstances. I last saw him on Christmas Day, and he was in fine spirits. 

Mark was a workaholic. Even on Christmas Day, he visited his office. 

He also had one of the strangest hobbies I've ever seen. Some of you might go to the casino. Others of you might like basketball or golf. Mark's hobby was reading textbooks. The more arcane, the better. 

Mark was serving as the Solicitor to the Zoning Hearing Boards of Hanover Tp (Lehigh County), Lower Macungie and Upper Milford.He taught and actually wrote several PBI courses dealing with real estate law. 

He was one of the good guys. 

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sad we are related.

Anonymous said...

We interviewed Mark to be Solicitor for our ZHB a year ago. He impressed me, but we selected another candidate. Sorry to hear of his passing.

Anonymous said...

He loved the Reading Phillies and their quaint old stadium too.

I too am deeply saddened by the loss of a good guy.

Rob P said...

I've devastated at this news. I worked with Mark for more than 20 years on all sorts of cases as one of his "experts" and can tell you he was a notch above most attorneys. Had a great sense of humor and you're spot on Bernie, a workaholic. Our offices are in the same block and we always would talk about cases if we saw each other. Even now, I have several projects I'm working on with him.....not sure what happens now.

We had nicknames for each other and he'd pass them on to selected clients. Just an all around good guy, I knew he was ill for past several weeks but didn't know how severe. Now I know.

Rest in Peace Brother M, you are missed already.

Unknown said...

Another shocking discovery for me this Monday morning. Sorry to hear it. My condolences to his family.

Anonymous said...

We appreciate all the kind words.

Jared S said...

Mark knew me since I was a little child. He did work for my parents. I am 34 years old now and have continued the work, and Mark has been with me and my family for all of these years. We've had so many fun moments, headaches, head-scratchers, successes, failures, the whole spectrum. I feel lucky to have had the time with him I did.

Over the years, I ended up with his cell phone number. I really tried never to call it; he was such a busy guy. Sometimes, though, I didn't want to call to talk business - I just wanted to call to see how he was doing. "Oh he's so busy, the last thing he wants is clients calling his phone," I thought. I really regret it now. I would love to hear his voice again, especially when he was in a relaxed mood. I mean, when he was working, he was working. If you didn't know any better, you would think he was a lawyer who DIDN'T get paid by the hour! But the light-hearted conversations and jokes shared with him after a case were so very special.

Mark, if they have mobile home parks in heaven, I know they will be seeking you out as their lawyer. You have done so much in our industry as well as many others. You are already sorely missed. I can't help but feel like this wasn't supposed to happen like this. But I guess we don't call all the shots. Thank you for your time, your counsel, your support, your kind words, your friendship. I am heart broken and thinking of your passing brings tears to my eyes.

Thank you for all you have done for me, my family, as well as our industry. I believe you were a great contribution to this world. With love, your friend and client, Jared

Anonymous said...

I'm a local land use attorney that had worked with Attorney Malkames on a land use appeal with complex procedural issues within the past few months (while we represented different clients we were not in opposing positions). At the oral argument he made a really brilliant procedural argument that got the other side's appeal summarily dismissed which was an unconditional win for his client. It was a brilliant piece of lawyering and par for the course for Attorney Malkames.

The Huntress said...

I knew Mark in high school at Salisbury. He was in my graduating class which was small at 176 or so. I had several classes with him. He was rather quiet and good humored. I didn't realize he followed his family into the business, but hearing all of the accolades for his professional career made me wish I had tried harder to get to know him way back in those awkward teenage years. The pic here looks nothing like the lanky, curly haired teen that I knew. I am sorry to have missed the man he became.

Josh M said...

My thoughts and prayers go out to Marks family. Know that Mark was held in high regard by me and I will be eternally grateful for all he has helped me with over the years. No matter when or what I needed Mark was always ready to lend his services. Countless times Mark has helped me through sticky situations and was always present and pleasant. I can say Im not sure what Im going to do without him at the moment, he was many peoples "go to" guy... God bless you Mark, you were truly a respected and liked guy. I'm blessed to have know you.
-Josh M.

Mary G said...

Wow, such a loss! Thoughts and prayers to Mark's family. His passing leaves a HUGE void for manufactured housing communities and the industry. He was very knowledgeable when it came to the law and was a true gentleman and attorney. I will truly miss our conversations and his guidance!

Anonymous said...

Mark was one of my best friends during our four years at Ursinus College. Freshman year he took a leadership role in making sure he had a devious hand in any pranks that were taking place on our hall, including leaning a 40 gallon trash can full of water against my door. Known universally as Bowie, he went on to become frontman for the greatest punk band to ever come out of Ursinus, The Zits. After hits like Drop Dead Don Kirshner and Four Year Vacation became campus standards, they changed their names to The Cysts because cysts seem to live eternally. He was one of the most entertaining characters to ever grace the Ursinus campus and he opened many of our eyes to the various punk bands taking hold in the 70's. His memory will live on eternally with all his friends and fans from his Grizzly days.