Wednesday, February 6, 2019
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I apologize for this being so very late...today I just happened to try to connect with Mark on Facebook, and, instead of finding our sweet friend from over 30+to years ago, I came upon his obituary. How devastating! My husband Kevin and I knew Mark many years ago when he lived here in San Diego and worked at my family's company; National Pen Corporation. We became fast friends and thoroughly enjoyed spending time together. Mark was an incredible man, full of joy, laughter and love - truly a wonderful friend to both of us and we loved him dearly. Mark was also incredibly generous - with his kindness, caring, time, wisdom and support. We knew Mark when he was 18-21. But his age didn't reflect who he was as a person, because Mark was truly an "old soul", filled to the brim with calm logical advise and very wise words of support. I remember a time, at my own very young age, at one point I was going through a very dark time. One evening Mark took me to the beach, he lit a campfire, opened a bottle of wine and we just sat there side-by-side. He lent me his shoulder to spend a few hours bawling my eyes out with sadness and frustration. Mark didn't say a word - he so generously sat there and let me cry and vent. Unlike some men who lovingly might go right into "let me fix this for you" mode, Mark intuitively knew what I needed was just a quiet friend to support me at the time with his presence and silence. His perfectly sound advice came later, when he knew I would listen. We were very sad when Mark moved back to New Jersey - but he missed his family and friends and wanted to go back home. These were the days before computer use as a personal way of communicating; so no email, MySpace or Facebook and although we would write letters to each other, send the annual Christmas cards and make the occasional phone calls, we gradually lost touch with each other. The last time I tried to connect was in 1995 when my Mom passed away - he loved my folks and I knew he'd want to know, but the address and phone number I had were out of date. Reading other folks' words of condolence and sharing their memories - I am so pleased he had many loving friends and family. Please accept very sad condolences from me and Kevin. We truly understand that Mark's passing is a huge loss for all of you. Thank you Lord for placing Mark and his wonderful friendship in our lives so many years ago - he was an amazing blessing in our lives for which we will always be lovingly grateful. Sincerely, Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Ulrich & Family, San Diego, CA
