Mark Anthony Zara passed away unexpectedly on November 16, 2022.

Mark was born in Mansfield, OH on April 24, 1960, to Frank and Marlene (Knapp) Zara, both deceased. He is predeceased by his sisters, Kimberly Randall, and Tracy Furrer, too.

He is survived by his nieces, Tiffany Kulcsar of Kansas (son Collin Kulcsar and daughter Lou Kulcsar) Trista (Paul) Howard of Ohio and Tessa Zara Smith of Ohio. He is survived by his Aunt Janice Rupert of California and a multitude of fun-loving cousins around the country.

He graduated from Madison High School in Mansfield and began working at the United States Government Publishing Office in Washington D.C. on January 2, 1990. He retired April 24, 2020, after 30 years but not before making lifelong friends with Bill, Pat, Tom & Paul among others.

Mark spent his time strumming his guitar or navigating the Potomac River on a boat with his Aunt Eleanor Curry (recently deceased) and Uncle Bob Davies soaking up the sun. He loved to shoot pool, listen to live music, and reveled in all types of seafood.

If you couldn’t find Mark, you would want to check a forest. He might have been hiking on a south facing slope by a stream or creek foraging for the love of his life, morel mushrooms. No words could accurately describe Mark’s knowledge and obsession of this specific fungi.

This June, Mark and his childhood best-friend, Dave Saltz of Mansfield, went on an adventure of a lifetime. They began in Ohio, traveled across the country and up to Alaska in a camper, where they had the pleasure of seeing the beauty that Alaska had to offer. This was a bucket list trip and he raved about it.

Of all the words you could describe Mark, generous, is one without limitations. He was graciously charitable with his time, resources, effort but most importantly he was giving with his love. His love couldn’t be measured because it was in such abundance and always without any expectation of reciprocity. His wit, laughter and encouragement will be tremendously missed.

A celebration of Mark’s life will be held at a later date. If you wish to attend the event in the future, please send an email to tmaehoward@gmail.comso we can provide you with more details.