Paul Price asked if I would add Mark to the list of classmates and also note that he was killed in a gun accident the summer before junior high. I have included 1965 as the year he died but that may not be correct.
Mark died in May 1963 in a gun accident. He and a neighborhood friend found a gun in his friend’s dresser drawer. It supposedly had a broken pin. However, Mark and his friend were playing with the gun when it unexpectedly fired, killing Mark instantly, as he was shot through the heart.
It was the first time in my life that I lost anyone, whether a relative or friend. His death traumatized me for months, if not years. In fact, his death haunts me to this day.
Had he lived, I have no idea whether Mark and I would have remained friends. However, at the time of his death , he was perhaps my closest friend. His family never recovered from the loss and his friend who fired the gun led a dad and unhappy life. Mark was not the only victim.
That event occurred almost sixty years ago. Yet, from time to time when I am reminded of it, it seems as if it happened yesterday.
Mark is buried at the cemetery located at Mission San Fernando. I have not visited his grave since his funeral so long ago.
Craig Kline
Mark died in May 1963 in a gun accident. He and a neighborhood friend found a gun in his friend’s dresser drawer. It supposedly had a broken pin. However, Mark and his friend were playing with the gun when it unexpectedly fired, killing Mark instantly, as he was shot through the heart.It was the first time in my life that I lost anyone, whether a relative or friend. His death traumatized me for months, if not years. In fact, his death haunts me to this day.
Had he lived, I have no idea whether Mark and I would have remained friends. However, at the time of his death , he was perhaps my closest friend. His family never recovered from the loss and his friend who fired the gun led a dad and unhappy life. Mark was not the only victim.
That event occurred almost sixty years ago. Yet, from time to time when I am reminded of it, it seems as if it happened yesterday.
Mark is buried at the cemetery located at Mission San Fernando. I have not visited his grave since his funeral so long ago.
Craig Kline
San Clemente, California