MARK MATHIS

The World always needs more Marks. He was truly an all around great guy in every way. I was really sad to see that he had passed. If any of his family reads this just know he always bragged and raved about how great you where and how much he loved you. I will miss him.

Mark was a great coworker and friend. We both enjoyed quirky Dad humor, and more recently shared a number of stories about old architecture and building tech. He was passionate and caring about his work, and the people he worked with. Just an all around great guy, and I will miss him terribly.

Mark was the first guy I met when we moved to the Pacific Northwest. His wife and mine worked together so the families met for dinner. Mark and I became fast friends. We helped each other with projects—pouring concrete, painting rooms, digging electrical trenches and cutting trees. We also met for lunch and dinner, and hosted each other and spouse for meals. He was a great cook, though humble, and a hard worker. I always enjoyed Mark‘s company and I appreciated his service. He was a straight-up guy, devoted to his beliefs but not at the expense of friendship. He and I disagreed politically. But, he never let it interfere with our relationship, unlike so many others that I know. In a country and world divided along partisan lines, Mark was refreshingly different in his relationship with me; I appreciate that and will strive to follow his example in my interactions with others. Mark also welcomed my family into his. He went out of his way to make sure that my so, RJ, felt at home, even tasking his twins to take RJ trick-or-treating. And, he helped RJ complete a few merit badges and his Eagle project. One of the last times I saw Mark was at RJ‘s Eagle promotion ceremony. Mark, I miss you. You were a great friend and my life is less with your passing. Rest in piece, brother!

It’s taken me a while to process the hole left in my life since my brother’s passing. Mark was my older brother, so naturally I looked up to him. He had a wild side, which got him into trouble often when we were kids. Mark joined the Marine Corps after high school. The Marines instilled purpose and a focus that he carried forward in everything he did. He proudly served in Desert Storm and even met the President of the United States, “H”. The lessons of loyalty and dependability that he learned in the Corps served him well for the rest of his life. Mark was someone I could always depend on to be there. Anytime someone in the family faced a challenge or hardship, Mark would be the first to rush in to help save the day. When my first marriage failed, it was Mark and Michelle who gave me a place to stay and a listening ear. Years later, he was on the phone being my rock while my current wife told me she had stage 3 cancer. When our father was sick the final time, Mark was there, holding his hand while he passed away. Family was extremely important to Mark. He loved his wife and sons intensely and was so very proud of them. He knew all the family lore and would research the family tree. He would fly down and visit our mom often and take his nieces and nephews on family trips. Mark’s presence in my life was a gift that I will forever cherish. His unwavering love, support, and dedication touched everyone he knew deeply. I will miss his humor, his intensity, and his fierce loyalty. He served our country and our family proudly. I will never forget the lessons he taught me about loyalty, strength, and the importance of family. Mark, you have completed the mission, and now you can rest. Your legacy of love and service will live on in each of us. Rest in peace, dear brother. I love you always.

I remember Cpl Mathis. I didn’t serve in Echo Co with him but in H&S and I was in Operation Restore Hope and landed with him in December 1992. A great Marine gone too soon. Semper Fi Cpl Mathis

I served with Mark in 3rd Platoon, Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines in 1992-93. Mark and I actually went to Boot Camp together in 1989, in different platoons, but graduated together September 22, 1989. At Echo 2/9, he and I were squad leaders together. He had 1st Squad, I led 2nd Squad. There are so many stories I have of Mark, I’m not sure where to begin. I remember supervising a morning barracks clean-up before formation and a Marine I sent to get mops to mop the floor with showed up with two mops that the handles looked like they had been burned. It turns out that the mops had been used over a trash fire that Mark, Mike Ostertag and Doug Marinella started in an attempt to bake a microwave pizza, because they were hungry after a night of bar hopping. Only Marines would use a trash fire to cook frozen pizza. He and I literally bonded while on a field exercise on Camp Pendleton. He and I, along with 4 other Marines went out on a night patrol and stumbled across a bivouac site of a platoon of Infantry School students. The site itself was empty, except for a sleeping sentry that was supposed to be on guard. Mathis and I woke the kid and scared him pretty good, while one of the other guys ransacked a pile of pyrotechnic gear, specifically trip flares and flash bangs meant to be used as booby traps. We quickly took off, leaving the sentry shaken up. We were patrolling back towards our area when we saw the Infantry School students being marched back to their bivouac area and we hid in the bush about 50 yards away, concealed in the weeds and by the darkness. Mathis decided to tempt fate and he popped off a white star parachute flare in the direction of the platoon on the road, and nearly hit the platoon leader with the flare. Might’ve missed the guy by a foot or so. The Marine dropped to the ground and we quickly ran into the dark as fast as we could run while laughing hysterically. Somehow we were never caught or even suspected of the shenanigans that night. Unfortunately for Mark, those flash bangs would come back to haunt him when another Marine named Valdez sneaked into the room that Mark shared with Doug Marinella and used them to booby trap Mark’s wall locker that contained his uniforms. I heard the whole event. Mark & Doug in their room across the hall from me, drinking beer and getting ready to head into San Clemente, and suddenly *BLAAAM!*, one of the flash bangs goes off, followed by the hysterical laughter of Doug Marinella. Mark is yelling at Doug, opens another drawer, *BLAM!”; a second flash bang goes off, which makes Doug laugh louder and harder, and this only makes Mark madder than he was before. I decided to come across the hall to see what happened, and I open the door to see that Mark is trying to fight Doug, who’s laughing too hard to do much of anything. I got between them, noticed that one of Mark’s uniforms caught fire, and was burning pretty good before we managed to put it out. I deployed with Mark in October 1992. We suffered the boredom of life at sea, drank beers in Honolulu and Singapore. We landed in Mogadishu, Somalia, for Operation Restore Hope. We drank more beer in Jebel Ali and Abu Dhabi, as well as Phuket, Thailand, before returning to the US, and leaving the Marine Corps in June, 1993. Mark Mathis more than just my Brother in Arms. He was my Brother. I love him and I will miss him. -Tony Storey