Our classmate Mark passed from this life on November 5th, 2020. Those of us who knew him and loved him since our days at St. Mary's and our time at Marian will miss him dearly. I feel a sincere sadness since I also knew him through our college days at U of I and after. He was, and remains, my brother and friend. Hats off to you Mark, you were better as Henry Higgins than I was, hands down!!
Mark had a very ... interesting life. But in recent years, he fell victim to throat cancer and lost his ability to speak or eat normally. In September of 2020, he had one of his close friends contact me. He was overwhelmed, but since he knew he was going to be gone soon, he wanted to contact one of us and say goodbye. We spoke to each other by texting back and forth for hours. His life was very private and I can only speak to John and Jeff about the details. His life had incredible ups and downs, I learned about all of them over the years. I had only actually seen him twice after our college years. The last gap was over 20 years, I thought he was long gone years ago. Imagine my shock when I got a hold of him. He did send all of us back some great photos of our early childhood before high school. I can let everyone know that he made peace with all the conflicting aspects of his life and I was honored that he chose to "speak" with me near the end. I did try to contact him again but his prediction as to how long he had was pretty accurate. One last time, "SOY".
Mark was the best man in my wedding (1972). Unfortunately we lost touch after that and I regret not being a better friend. Rest in peace...will see you again someday.
Craig Fillion
Deceased November of 2020.
John Matthes
Our classmate Mark passed from this life on November 5th, 2020. Those of us who knew him and loved him since our days at St. Mary's and our time at Marian will miss him dearly. I feel a sincere sadness since I also knew him through our college days at U of I and after. He was, and remains, my brother and friend. Hats off to you Mark, you were better as Henry Higgins than I was, hands down!!
Craig Fillion
Mark had a very ... interesting life. But in recent years, he fell victim to throat cancer and lost his ability to speak or eat normally. In September of 2020, he had one of his close friends contact me. He was overwhelmed, but since he knew he was going to be gone soon, he wanted to contact one of us and say goodbye. We spoke to each other by texting back and forth for hours. His life was very private and I can only speak to John and Jeff about the details. His life had incredible ups and downs, I learned about all of them over the years. I had only actually seen him twice after our college years. The last gap was over 20 years, I thought he was long gone years ago. Imagine my shock when I got a hold of him. He did send all of us back some great photos of our early childhood before high school. I can let everyone know that he made peace with all the conflicting aspects of his life and I was honored that he chose to "speak" with me near the end. I did try to contact him again but his prediction as to how long he had was pretty accurate. One last time, "SOY".
Jeff Welbon
Mark was the best man in my wedding (1972). Unfortunately we lost touch after that and I regret not being a better friend. Rest in peace...will see you again someday.