Mark was my big brother. I have so many fond memories of him spending time with me during my time as a boy growing up in the 70s. Mark was a Vietnam veteran. I have a letter when he was over there that said he missed me and wanted to spend time with me when he returned home. He kept that promise. Mark took me fishing often and taught me how to fish. He took me golfing many times and let me tag along and taught me how to play. I went to several OU football games with Mark where he fostered my love of OU football. He would gather up my friends and we’d go play his wife Peggy’s little brother Lee and his friends, in front yard football games. He took me camping, skiing, and swimming at the lake. One summer in about 1973, Mark gathered my friends and our cousin Eric and he organized racing events using our Hot Wheel cars and hundreds of feet of orange track. He and his boyhood friends James and Dudley would take us around Tulsa and find hills all over town to lay out our tracks. He would conduct time trials and keep stats of how fast our cars raced down those tracks. He’d give out prizes like new Hot Wheels cars, free meals or milkshakes. Finally, at the end of the summer he helped us set up at Lafortune Park in Tulsa and we raced for trophies he had purchased. They were golden cars for 1st through 5th place. Mark had a knack for organizing people and getting them to do things that maybe they wouldn’t otherwise. He was very persuasive. Lastly, when I was married to my wife Melody, I asked if he could play the piano at my wedding. He played Romeo and Juliet’s “A Time for Us”. He played it beautifully. Thank you big brother for filling my childhood with wonderful memories. Someday I will see you in heaven and we can talk about all things sports, like we did on this earth. Love you from your little brother Chris
