Friends
"I'll never forget the good times we had at the river. The boat trip to Laughlin. The many nights at the River's Edge Bar.
You are a good friend and will be missed badly.
I love you my friend.
With a heavy, heavy heart...." Sunny Dodd
"Mark, I will miss you greatly. I can't thank you enough for being such a great guy. You were an uncle to my kids and a TRUE friend. You opened your home to me when I was down n out as if it were my own. I loved your carefree attitude and I will miss you on our future Harley runs! I will have a Coors Light for you! RIP"
Barry Bennett
"When I found out about marks passing, I received a text message from my father saying, "He helped me raise you." This statement could not be more accurate. Mark was always known to me as "Uncle Mark." I met Mark when my family moved down the street from him when I was around 12 years old. Even though he was my dad's friend, he was just as much my friend despite our age difference. Mark did not teach me how to make a lot of money, how to be perfect or how to become powerful. He taught me one of the most valuable things I could ever hope to be knowledgable in... To enjoy life and live it to the fullest. He taught me how to have fun and capitalize on the finer things in life. No matter what motorized contraption I had problems with, all I had to do was bring it to his garage when he was home and he would help. He helped me with everything from rewiring my boat to fixing my quad to fitting oversized tires on my truck. Every time me and my dad needed help working on something or were just plain bored, we went to marks house. He was such a kid at heart, so much so that he would play video games with me for hours on end or watch ridiculous movies with me because we were both bored out of our minds and it was the only thing on TV. One summer my mom grounded me from wake boarding because I failed to get a 3.0 grade average. I was about 15 at the time and even though I was still allowed to go to the river, my mother intended for me to be bored while I was there, however she never thought to specifically ground me from all water sports. Mark, my dad and I would go to the river all the time during the summer (especially during the summer I was grounded). The first river trip I took with Mark, he brought out his old slalom water ski and said,"I know your grounded from wakeboarding but your mom didn't say shit about skiing, did she?" Mark taught me everything he knew about skiing and I became damn good at it. The last river day of the season came around and my mom came along. Mark asked my mother if I could water ski and she allowed it. You should have seen her face when I got up on that ski and started carving a cross the water like a pro. When I was done I got back in the boat. Mark looked at my mother and said, "What can I say, he's a natural." With a huge smile on his face. After that I can officially say that Mark was one of the most awesome people in my life along with my father. I could go on for days about mark and tell countless great stories about him but I would be here typing for days. I am proud of the person I have grown to be and I can contribute a big piece of that to Mark. I lost a brother, an uncle and a best friend when Mark died but the memories and teachings I have from him will be with me for the rest of my life. I will never forget you mark. Thank you for everything." corey ploesch