Family, friends and community members to gather at memorial service for Bernie Marcus

ATLANTA — Family, friends and community members will gather on Thursday to remember Home Depot co-founder and philanthropist Bernie Marcus.

Marcus died at the age of 95 on Tuesday morning. A funeral service will be held for Marcus at The Temple in midtown Atlanta on Thursday afternoon.

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Marcus made his fortune co-founding home improvement chain Home Depot, alongside Arthur Blank. The first two Home Depot stores opened in Atlanta in 1979. Marcus was a part of making it the largest home improvement retailer in the world.

But it wasn’t just his self-made fortune that Marcus was known for. Marcus donated over $2 billion to nonprofits over the past three decades.

“Bernie’s impact extends far beyond the aisles of our stores; his philanthropic efforts touched countless lives and communities. He believed in the power of giving back and dedicated himself to making a difference in the world,” Blank said in a statement.

Marcus particularly focused on improving the health of others. He helped fund health centers and hospitals in Atlanta from Piedmont Hospital’s Marcus Heart and Vascular Center to the Shepherd Center.

Marcus was also behind the revitalization of Grady Memorial Hospital with a Stroke Center and a Trauma and Emergency Center.

“Stroke Center. Heart Center. Grady. Piedmont. He was so wise and so helpful and so caring,” Alana Shepherd, co-founder of Shepherd Center, told Channel 2 Action News.