1936 – 2023

Mark was born early in the morning after his mother, Rosa, bumped into the bedroom door on her way to the loo, thereby winning a bet she had made with her also-pregnant neighbour, Zubah Stratham.

Mark lived with his family in Westview, a suburb of Powell River, until he was about eight years old. His two younger brothers, Richard and Earl, died as infants and are buried in the Cranberry Lake Cemetery.

His family moved to Vancouver, where in 1944 his father Dunc went into partnership with his father-in-law, Ferdinand Henschell, in the Rapid Manufacturing Company (later Advance Industries) on West 12th Avenue. The family was completed by the late addition of his sister, Sandra. He attended Lord Tennyson School, Franklin School, Kitsilano High School (Class of '54) and UBC ('63), where he obtained a BSc in chemical engineering. He was a Sigma Chi while at UBC. In later years, he loved to sing "The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi” around the campfire at the Watch Lake Ranch.

He had various jobs over the years: carrier and sub-manager with the Province newspaper (1945-54); concession hawker at the Lansdowne Racetrack (1954); mucker and sinking shaft skiff operator at Bralorne Mines (1954); tally man with the BC Forest Service (1955); Engineering Training Program with the Powell River Company (1956-58); Technical Service Engineer with Crown Zellerbach in Ocean Falls, BC (1959-64).

Mark became a member of the Association of Professional of Engineers. He married the love of his life, Jane Harker, on February 11, 1961. They set up house in Ocean Falls, BC, where Diana and Ted were born.

He joined Dow Chemical (on April Fools’ Day) in 1964 at Sarnia, Ontario, where JJ was born. He held various technical, sales, and marketing positions until his retirement in 1994, in Calgary.

Mark and Jane moved to Pender Island early in 1998 to help Jane’s stepmother, Betty Harker, until her death in 2009.

He loved his wife Jane; his daughters Diana and JJ; his son Ted; his son-in-law Brian (Pratt-Johnson); his daughter-in-law Christine (Iannetta); and his grandchildren Lucy, Asha, Heather, and Meg. Equally so, he loved his sister Sandra (Hubbick) and her husband Fred, his niece Georgia (husband Sean), his grand-niece Bella and grand-nephew Jonathan, and his nephew Owen and wife Cheryl.

He loved baseball, especially the Yankees, a relationship that began in 1948 with Casey Stengel, but ended when Roger Clemens and A-Rod brought a distinctly bad aroma to MLB. It took a while, but he finally really enjoyed golf. He was a devoted fan of the BC Lions football team since the club’s inception in 1954.

His doctor, Gerry Moore, did a great job of extending his life.

The Lions Club was a big part of his life on Pender, as was the Museum Society, as well as lunches with friends John Coulson, Doug Patterson, and particularly Al Stenson, at the pub.

Mark’s life left a lasting impact. Striving to do what he believed was right, Mark led by example – and to paraphrase Mark Twain, he surprised most people and astonished the rest.

Poem for Jane, his wife:

Should I leave

While you’re still here

Remember I live on, have no fear

My molecules will vibrate to another beat

Behind an opaque curtain, perhaps a window seat

Where I sit but you can’t see…

So live your life as you always have, in full measure

Playing games and loving kids and all His treasure

So keep the faith baby…

If you should ever need or think of me

Whisper, no, shout my name, and I will be

Not in your mind but in your heart

Patient be until that time when once again

Our awareness be mutual, not apart