In high school I used to hate when I walked into a class and Mark was there...he would always bring the curve of the grade up (so I had to work harder in those classes)... I remember Miss McCanns'/Mrs. McCloskeys' english class in particular to be this situation...also Mr. Strobel's biology class as well.
Years after we graduated I had the opportunity to share this story with Mark and we just laughed over a few drinks...he was a very nice person that we will continue to sorely miss...I remember being shocked when I had originially heard the news because he seemed so very happy when I met up with him...he seemed very relaxed at what he was doing and trying to decide what he wanted to do with his life
Mark and I sat near each other in homeroom at Mellon (with the french teacher, Mmme. Ferrell). We chatted a lot, but some days he was very quiet. When I would try to get him to talk, he would tell me that talking without a purpose was noise pollution. Maybe he was trying to tell me to be quiet. He was always very gentlemanly (especially for a jr. high-age boy). We went to a Mellon dance together and he gave me a pin (which I still have). He was a very nice person.
Mark Hnath sat behind me in homeroom throughout high school... Hinchliffe, Hnath no one had a name in between. Although I don't remember any class in particular that we shared, I was always so greatly impressed by his intelligence and politeness. There was no one in high school that was more of a gentleman.
Mark and I were students in underclass social studies taught by faculty member Daniel Nee. Mr. Nee created an informal class atmosphere, and he worked hard to draw the students into thoughtful and respectful discussion. We liked Mr. Nee, and felt valued in the collegial climate he created. Mr. Nee held greater credibility than many teachers, not only by virtue his lamb-chop sideburns, but also by his ability to claim recent Vietnam conflict military experience. For privileged kids like us, Mr. Nee's vibe felt very real and street-worthy.
One afternoon, Mr. Nee asked us to consider human survival. In particular, the topic was one's willingness to rise above others in conflict, in order that we, as individuals or as a society, might survive. Most students responded as 9th or 10th graders of the era predictably would respond: Opinions ranged from declaring oppression as wrong and unfair in all instances - to insisting that anyone in America's way should be immediately vaporized with nuclear weaponry. Until that point in the dialog, students were thinking mostly in national terms, in an Us Verses Them context, as we often did in cold war days. Mark Hnath listened quietly and politely to his classmates, but Mark had not yet spoken. Mr. Nee kept the discussion moving, pointing out strengths and gaps in the points students made.
Mark eventually spoke and offered his view of survival. Mark spoke slowly, confidently and with a clarity and poise that had to have been very rare for a boy of high school age. Mark's response drew a complete silence from the class room. Mark offered that as humans, instinct to survive trumped all other instincts: It was not a matter of Americans vs. Soviets, but it was much more basic than that. To Mark it was a matter of surviving as a man, and killing any other man was not only a necessary ingredient in that survival, but it was necessary component of the human psyche if we were to survive as a species. Making his point more concretely for his classmates, Mark gently assured that he would personally kill each of us, any of us - all of us in fact - if needed so that he might live. Gasps erupted from the class room. Mr. Nee intervened. Each of us had been permitted to speak and it was now Mark's turn. Mark's defined his stance more clearly. Mark expressed that he harbored no hatred or malice towards any of us. To the contrary, Mark expressed fondness for many in the class and further explained that his willingness to kill another to protect himself was the very basis of the human condition. He as much as suggested that any view to the contrary was inauthentic; that it would never survive the test of a genuine threat. Mr. Nee commended Mark for his willingness to take an unpopular viewpoint and speak so freely. I can still remember Mark's face during that discussion. Mark was gentle but quietly forceful. Mark was unrepentant; there was no hint of defensiveness in his presence. Mark was very sure of what he'd said, and he had not done so in a theatrical effort. Mark gave me the feeling he'd considered all of this in advance of Mr. Nee's classroom that afternoon. I too admired Mark's willingness to expose himself as he had, and I wondered where I myself stood on the questions Mark's response had raised. My parting memory of that day and Mark's words are that I felt something for him. Mark's words, while they rang as honest and possibly even a comfort to him, felt like they came from a very lonely and solitary place. It felt as though Mark had found and shared a lonely truth on that afternoon, as a young man in our high school social studies class.
Mark was captain of the football team. Every player on the team looked up to him. He was a role model before he even graduated. He was one of those kids that got along with everyone while doing everything the right way and with class. He was exceptionally bright as well. Losing Mark so early was a real tradgedy. I think Im not alone when I say that I thought he was destined for huge success in life. I was really shocked and at the time deeply saddened when I heard of his passing. He still crosses my mind every once in a while. I'll miss seeing him at the reunion.
I never knew Mark well but that didn't stop me from cheating off him in 11th grade History class with Mr. Walker. And didn't he win the honored President's Award our senior year? He was a student whose many accomplishments I will always admire.
By the way, I received a "B" in History that year.
Monica L. McCann (Marks)
In high school I used to hate when I walked into a class and Mark was there...he would always bring the curve of the grade up (so I had to work harder in those classes)... I remember Miss McCanns'/Mrs. McCloskeys' english class in particular to be this situation...also Mr. Strobel's biology class as well.Years after we graduated I had the opportunity to share this story with Mark and we just laughed over a few drinks...he was a very nice person that we will continue to sorely miss...I remember being shocked when I had originially heard the news because he seemed so very happy when I met up with him...he seemed very relaxed at what he was doing and trying to decide what he wanted to do with his life
Susan Albrecht (Burke)
Mark and I sat near each other in homeroom at Mellon (with the french teacher, Mmme. Ferrell). We chatted a lot, but some days he was very quiet. When I would try to get him to talk, he would tell me that talking without a purpose was noise pollution. Maybe he was trying to tell me to be quiet. He was always very gentlemanly (especially for a jr. high-age boy). We went to a Mellon dance together and he gave me a pin (which I still have). He was a very nice person.Judy Hinchliffe (Byron)
Mark Hnath sat behind me in homeroom throughout high school... Hinchliffe, Hnath no one had a name in between.Although I don't remember any class in particular that we shared, I was always so greatly impressed by his intelligence and politeness. There was no one in high school that was more of a gentleman.
John Christian Caldwell
Mark and I were students in underclass social studies taught by faculty member Daniel Nee. Mr. Nee created an informal class atmosphere, and he worked hard to draw the students into thoughtful and respectful discussion. We liked Mr. Nee, and felt valued in the collegial climate he created. Mr. Nee held greater credibility than many teachers, not only by virtue his lamb-chop sideburns, but also by his ability to claim recent Vietnam conflict military experience. For privileged kids like us, Mr. Nee's vibe felt very real and street-worthy.One afternoon, Mr. Nee asked us to consider human survival. In particular, the topic was one's willingness to rise above others in conflict, in order that we, as individuals or as a society, might survive. Most students responded as 9th or 10th graders of the era predictably would respond: Opinions ranged from declaring oppression as wrong and unfair in all instances - to insisting that anyone in America's way should be immediately vaporized with nuclear weaponry. Until that point in the dialog, students were thinking mostly in national terms, in an Us Verses Them context, as we often did in cold war days. Mark Hnath listened quietly and politely to his classmates, but Mark had not yet spoken. Mr. Nee kept the discussion moving, pointing out strengths and gaps in the points students made.
Mark eventually spoke and offered his view of survival. Mark spoke slowly, confidently and with a clarity and poise that had to have been very rare for a boy of high school age. Mark's response drew a complete silence from the class room. Mark offered that as humans, instinct to survive trumped all other instincts: It was not a matter of Americans vs. Soviets, but it was much more basic than that. To Mark it was a matter of surviving as a man, and killing any other man was not only a necessary ingredient in that survival, but it was necessary component of the human psyche if we were to survive as a species. Making his point more concretely for his classmates, Mark gently assured that he would personally kill each of us, any of us - all of us in fact - if needed so that he might live. Gasps erupted from the class room. Mr. Nee intervened. Each of us had been permitted to speak and it was now Mark's turn. Mark's defined his stance more clearly. Mark expressed that he harbored no hatred or malice towards any of us. To the contrary, Mark expressed fondness for many in the class and further explained that his willingness to kill another to protect himself was the very basis of the human condition. He as much as suggested that any view to the contrary was inauthentic; that it would never survive the test of a genuine threat. Mr. Nee commended Mark for his willingness to take an unpopular viewpoint and speak so freely. I can still remember Mark's face during that discussion. Mark was gentle but quietly forceful. Mark was unrepentant; there was no hint of defensiveness in his presence. Mark was very sure of what he'd said, and he had not done so in a theatrical effort. Mark gave me the feeling he'd considered all of this in advance of Mr. Nee's classroom that afternoon. I too admired Mark's willingness to expose himself as he had, and I wondered where I myself stood on the questions Mark's response had raised. My parting memory of that day and Mark's words are that I felt something for him. Mark's words, while they rang as honest and possibly even a comfort to him, felt like they came from a very lonely and solitary place. It felt as though Mark had found and shared a lonely truth on that afternoon, as a young man in our high school social studies class.
William Pilossoph
Mark was captain of the football team. Every player on the team looked up to him. He was a role model before he even graduated. He was one of those kids that got along with everyone while doing everything the right way and with class. He was exceptionally bright as well. Losing Mark so early was a real tradgedy. I think Im not alone when I say that I thought he was destined for huge success in life. I was really shocked and at the time deeply saddened when I heard of his passing. He still crosses my mind every once in a while. I'll miss seeing him at the reunion.Eileen L. Kinner
I never knew Mark well but that didn't stop me from cheating off him in 11th grade History class with Mr. Walker. And didn't he win the honored President's Award our senior year? He was a student whose many accomplishments I will always admire.By the way, I received a "B" in History that year.
Eileen