Richard Marks, who was sent to Kalaupapa, Moloka'i, after being diagnosed with Hansen's disease as a young man and who was instrumental in gaining national historic recognition for the colony, has died.

Marks, 79, died Tuesday night on the small peninsula that had been his home since 1956. His death reduces the Kalaupapa resident patient population to 23.

Marks was a successful businessman, respected town historian and the sheriff of Kalawao County.

Gloria Marks said her husband of 46 years achieved his goal of establishing Kalaupapa National Historical Park in 1980 with the help of late Hawai'i congresswoman Patsy Mink, and was looking forward to the canonization of Blessed Damien de Veuster, the Belgian priest revered for serving Hansen's disease sufferers on Moloka'i.

Eight thousand Hansen's disease patients died on Moloka'i, outcasts under Hawai'i laws (since rescinded) requiring them to be segregated. Sulfone drugs introduced as early as 1946 have been able to cure the disease.

Emmy Award-winning independent filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo, whose 1992 documentary "Simple Courage" examined the history of Hawai'i's tragic Hansen's disease epidemic and the intervention of Father Damien, described Marks as a "deeply compassionate man."

"He loved Father Damien, went to Belgium and felt a connection to him," Castillo said.

Marks and his wife named their youngest son, who died in 1985, and their Kalaupapa tour business after Damien.

Operating a tour business in the three villages — Kalaupapa, Kalawao, and Waikolu — of Kalawao County (a separate county from the rest of Moloka'i, which is part of Maui County), required not only historical knowledge but a lot of ingenuity, since large items, such as buses, are only brought to the peninsula once a year by barge.

"He was a broke-mechanic who worked on the buses to 2 or 3 every morning," Gloria Marks said. "He used zoris (slippers), pipe, wires just to keep the buses together and get people around, but every day something like a muffler would fall off. You can't order and get parts here, so he had to improvise."

She said she plans to continue the business.

Richard Marks enjoyed hiking, reading and collecting old bottles, his wife said.

His body was flown to O'ahu yesterday. A service date at Mililani Mortuary had not yet been set, she said.

In addition to his wife, Marks is survived by son Richard Salanisisi Marks; daughters Rita Faamotu Ward, Elizabeth Katelina Joshua and Eloise Gloria Carroll; three hanai children; two sisters, including Winifred Harada of Kalaupapa; 13 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.