Mark Andrew Davis

January 12th, 1968 - April 13th, 2013

Mark's Memory Wall

We encourage you to share your most beloved memories of Mark here, so that the family and other loved ones can always see it. Share your favorite stories or comment on those shared by others.

It was my honor and privilege to know Mark as a friend. He was always in great humor when you saw him. We used to laugh at The Old Stein Inn when we'd ask "how ya doin?" and he'd answer "what a week!" followed by "Terrible". Terrible meant the opposite with Mark, he was always great.

He was a beloved member of The Old Stein "Stammtisch" (regulars in German)one of four "Marks". He was "Rocket scientist Mark", I was "Dr Mark", along with "Pony tail Mark" Marra and "Captain Mark" Ward. Mark was a master spoon player in the beer garden. We played them in his honor/ memory at beer garden with his favorite band, Heidi and the Heimat Echo last Saturday evening. Mark was scheduled to join us but was too weak. He joined the Lord that evening.

He was very modest but great fun and loved to educate us about the cosmos or "apps" on his beloved iPhone.

I am proud to know that he was a fellow Eagle Scout, something he never mentioned but looking back it was obvious in the manner in which he lived his life.

I will miss him dearly.

Mark R Schuman "Dr Mark"

To the Davis Family - I was so saddened to hear of Mark's passing. Such a sadness filled my heart, especially since my Mother-in-law battled this same, horrible cancer and lost her battle after 18 months. I remember how smart Mark was in high school. While I haven't seen him in years, I wish to offer my prayers to the entire Davis family. May peace and comfort find you during this time. Ken and Amy - please know that my heart goes out to my fellow classmates and dear friends.

Kerri (Weemhoff) Hayes

I would like to add that along with Coach Dustin, I had the privilege of being on the South Haven Swim Team with Mark. We were also lifeguards together during his summers home from Michigan Tech. He helped me through tough science classes (including Coach Dustin's) and all of my memories of him are fond. My love and thoughts to his family and friends. An ongoing joke we had with each other when we said hello was to each nod at the other saying "Mark", "Mark", "Mark", "Mark" over and over again. Thank you for being my friend.

Mark Parsell

Mr & Mrs Davis, Ken & Brian,
I am so sorry for you loss and very saddened.
I've know Mark for a long time, through swimming, band, life guarding and Michigan Tech.  Through all of those times together Marks infectious positive attitude and smile are what I remember and admire most about him.

When Mark was in grad school at MTU he told me about his project of connecting multiple CPU's together to gain the ability to parallel process software.  That was cutting edge at the time, something few had heard of or dreamed of, and Mark was really excited about it.  Now it is part of most computers sold.  Mark is one of the smartest guys I know.

I have and will continue to keep Mark and the Davis family in my prayers.

Dave Sanford

To all of Mark's family and friends, words can't adequately express how sorry I am for your loss. Though we can take comfort in knowing he is no longer suffering, we will never know why God has chosen to take him at such a young age.

I first met Geek (his college nickname) while living in the dorms at Michigan Tech, and one of the first things he did after shaking my hand was offer to help with building our loft. This was before he even had his own things unpacked from the car. That was the kind of guy that he was. We were friends, we were pledge brothers, and we were roommates that had a lot of good times and didn't get in too much trouble.

Though we didn't keep in close touch over the years, I thought about him often and I was always quick to brag about my buddy that bounced lasers off stuff in space. He was truly one of the smartest people I have ever known.

May you rest in peace Geek, you will be greatly missed.

Scott Bershing

As members of the Old Stein "Stammtisch", we had the great privilege of counting Mark among our friends. He was an extraordinary guy and often a trendsetter. It was Mark who brought the rhythmic beat of wooden spoons to the beer garden and generously instructed the rest of us in this musical art. It was Mark who alerted us to the coolest apps we just had to have for our iPhones: "Burn the Rope", a flashlight, a virtual lighter, and a decibel meter among others. It was Mark the camera buff who documented Old Stein entrees in photos; soon we were all snapping pics table-side. Mark also shared photos taken on his many work trips as well as family vacations. Through Mark, we traveled vicariously to Hawaii, Italy, Germany, Michigan, and the cane fields of Florida.

Besides being a trendsetter, Mark was also a ringleader. One fall, Mark led the "Stammstisch" in brainstorming a Wild Game Menu which included such delicacies as Riva Raccoon, Mayo Mongoose, and Jessup Jackal. When a beloved chef was planning to move to Canada, Mark spearheaded a list of 20 "factoids" for Dirk to remember:Moose is the other white meat; Learn how to cook with seal blubber instead of olive oil; The kitchen has no shortage of freezer space.

Mark's clam acceptance of his illness, his optimism and courage, and his scientific approach to his condition and treatment made it easy to be optimistic that he would win his battle against cancer. Although saddened that this was not to be, we are comforted that his pain has ceased and he is at peace. There's a brand new angel floating around heaven with a winning smile and a mischievous sparkle in his eye.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Andy and Judy, and your entire family. May our Lord being you peace and comfort. Know that Mark will forever be in our hearts.

Carla and Jim Duls

Mark was my roommate for a couple of years while at Mich Tech. Mark was such an easy-going guy and always helpful. I still remember my amazement that during one of the academic terms Mark took 21 credits course load and had 2 classes scheduled at the same time because he didn't want to wait to take either of them. Imagine, he missed have the classes of 2 subjects. Also imagine that was one of the terms he ended with a 4.0 gpa. We didn't stay in touch over the years but I always wondered how he was doing.
Mark was certainly a good guy with character.

Shane Crist

Mark was a great guy and I am glad to have come to know him through the fraternity up at Tech, and call him a true friend.  Mark was always upbeat and positive, always with a smile on his face and quick with a funny comment.

He was incredibly bright and one of the smartest guys I have ever known.  He set up a computer for all of us to use at the fraternity house.  He was the go to guy for anyone needing help with anything having to do with computers, which were primitive and unknown to most of us at the time.  Long before folks had ever even heard of, or dreamed of the internet, he had us accessing the University computer systems remotely from the relative comfort of the fraternity house.  I pulled my fair share of all nighters on that computer and it really saved my bacon more than once.  Mark also helped me with a difficult programming assignment once.  In about an hour he helped me complete the assignment that would have taken me an entire day, a day I simply did not have to spend on it.

But Mark loved to get outside and have fun too.  Some of the best memories I have with him were enjoying the natural treasures that the Keweenaw Peninsula had to offer.  This included our annual early spring camping trips along the shore of Lake Superior.  One day during a summer that I stayed up at Tech to take classes he and I went fishing on Otter Lake.  Mark had a fishing boat in college-who has a boat in college?  Well, Mark did!  He and I went Copper Country Cruising one day.  We ended up at the A&W way up in Copper Harbor.  Mark told me about how he had come there with his family who he had a very close relationship.

I recall probably the most serious conversation I ever had with Mark was when he was offered his post graduate job out east.  The University had also offered him a position and he was trying to decide between the two.  I think he made the right choice as it is very evident that he really enjoyed his work which suited him very well.

Mark will be missed.  I wish my most sincere condolences to his family.

Dan Wagner

Mark “Geek” Davis was super smart, caring, quirky, upbeat and always brought laughter to any conversation.    The great thing about true friends is that no matter how much time passes between meetings, when you do meet or talk again you just pick up as if no time has passed…and so it was with Mark.  When we talked over this last year, he focused on the positive and we always had a laugh.

One of my fondest memories is that of our Isle Royal camping trip in Aug/Sept. 1994.   If I might quote and paraphrase from our trip log notes that I kept….

Mark is the slowest in the group with his heavy 1960’s external frame pack which has everything, including a pair of waders, attached to the outside.  Although the “Sanford Pack “ (nicknamed after Sanford & Son’s junk yard), is equipped with the “modern convenience” of a padded golf strap, the weight of the pack is too much and the strap tears into Mark’s back and shoulders.  Needless to say the quote of this day came from Mark who realizes that he is out of shape and that “there is something to be said about technology.” (referring to our light weight modern backpacks).    After a few miles of his slow pace, we held an intervention, where we took his waders and hid them behind a tree.  23 pounds lighter and we began to pick up some speed!

The stars at night from Isle Royal are amazing and Mark was our tour guide for the skies pointing out constellations and the Milky Way.  Amazingly, Mark had packed a ream of 14” green lined computer paper (remember those days) with information on every satellite (no wonder his pack was so heavy) which fascinated us for hours as they streaked right above us.  We see several shooting stars which streak from horizon to horizon and we give a large cheer at each of mother  nature’s awesome displays.  We try to capture the sky on film and we have a few laughs at Marks expense.  Instead of leaving the camera shutter open, Mark hits the timer button and we all sit around and wait for the camera to click.  We took 5 pictures that night and none of them turn out.

I have posted a few pictures from that trip.

While Mark was only with us a short time, he touched many lives and brought joy to this world.  May his memories and laughter soften the sadness in our hearts and may we smile knowing he is now in heaven.
I wish my most sincere condolences to his family.

Scott Tatro

Mark was more than a colleague, he was family.  I've never met anyone with his combination of optimism, intelligence, simplicity, and sense of adventure.  We were teammates - we'd sit at the telescope in the middle of the night working, and Mark would make a random comment that would cause me to scratch my head for a second - more than once we turned his random stream-of-consciousness thoughts into really cool experiments and programs.

Mark had a passion for knowledge that was contagious.  Mark can be proud that his labor of love will make an impact for decades to come in our current geodetic payload program.  It would not have happened without him.

I'm going to miss the late nights at the telescope, singing along with "Da Yoopers" to "The second week of deer camp".  Mark was up for any adventure - touring towns with my husband and parents after the ILRS workshops, going to find the menehunes ("midnight marchers") on Kauai, sitting on top of Mauna Loa surrounded by lava rocks looking at the stars while taking data.  No matter what, you were guaranteed to get a DVD of 6000 photographs from Mark after a trip, documenting not only what we all did during the trip, but what we ate at every meal, and what we saw in the landscape along the way (not all of which was in focus!).

Dearest Mark, you will be greatly missed.  We all love you.
Linda, Jeff, and Nori Thomas, and of course, Chip

Linda Thomas

Mark's Family and Friends,

I’m truly saddened and my deepest sympathies go out to you.  I knew Mark (Geek, affectionately and jealously) in college and to say that he was smart, happy, and just an all-around nice guy is not doing him justice.   He had not an evil bone in his body.

Andy, Judy, and his Brothers/Family, you did a great job raising him and helping him become the person he was.  Your efforts and love with Mark benefited many other people that he met and befriended along the way, and for that I’m most appreciative.   His work for the government is also to be commended and admired.  A unique, caring person who will be greatly missed.

Bob Church

I wish to express my deepest sympathies to Mark's family even though I never had the pleasure of meeting any of you. Mark was a bright young engineer at Honeywell Technology Soluitions Inc. supporting my programs when I was Deputy Manager of NASA's Crustal Dynamics Project and later Head of the Space Geodesy and Laser Altimetry Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Mark was primarily doing orbital analysis of satellites being tracked by a global network of laser stations and was quite competent at it. He attacked every assignment with cheerfulness, enthusiasm and a "can do" attitude and was always anxious to expand his knowledge base of Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR). He got that opportunity when he transferred to the Naval Research Laboratory's SLR facility and became intimately involved with the hardware. For several years after he joined NRL, I kiddingly called him "Traitor" when I met wiith him at technical conferences to which he would respond with a laugh and his usual good humor. During the past year, I was privileged to work with Mark again as he led the design of the retroreflector panels for a new generation of GPS satellites. His cheerfulness in the face of his devastating illness was a tribute to his strength of character and a life example to his friends and colleagues. Rest in Peace, Mark. It was an honor to know you.

John Degnan

To the family of Mark Davis,
I have worked with Mark on several Laser Retro reflector projects over the years. Technically he was excellent, but more importantly, he was a pleasure to work with. Whatever he was asked to do he did willingly and well. Beyond his technical attributes were his commitment, his strength and his spirit. Mark's dedication to his work through his illness was beyond anything I have ever seen. It was my pleasure and privilege to have known Mark.
With my deepest sympathy,
Ed Aaron

Ed Aaron

I have had the pleasure of knowing Mark since he came to Maryland in 1992.  We were colleagues and more importantly friends since then.  Mark never missed an opportunity to discover new ways of making things happen or making them better.  He never took “no” or “it can’t be done” as an answer.  He was the smartest guy I ever met.  While he was the smartest, he was also the most engaging.  Mark was always up for an adventure, whether at work or not.  As said before, he was well traveled.  What I could never understand about Mark was how his energy level increased as the week went by on travel while ours went down.  He was also so full of energy and optimism, and not to forget, full of photos.  His countless photos of meals, presentation slides and basically, anything else around his camera filled DVDs after each trip.  Even if he dropped his camera in his soup, twice, in Poland, he just kept on clicking.

I had the great fortune to meet Andy and Judy during Mark’s long and hard fight to beat his “golf ball” and I’m a better person for it.  I enjoyed many evenings hanging out with Mark and his parents before and after treatments and toward the ends, his walks around the “antenna fields”.  He never stopped smiling.  I am proud and grateful to have been with Mark as he left this Earth to be a peace with the Lord.

I already miss Mark a great deal….I keep waiting to receive his call on the way to work while he was stuck on the “Clinton Bridge” or on the ride home when he would tell me what new way he came up with to solve a technical issue, none of which I usually understood, or just to solve one of my problems at the office.  Mark always started the call with an energetic “GOOD MORNING” and always ended his calls with an equally energetic “SMILE”.

I miss my friend, as he was foremost and always,  my friend.

Smile.

Scott Wetzel

I am in the denial stage because I still can't accept that he is gone.  He was such a vibrant personality and full of energy.  I miss technical discussions with him.  He would suddenly pop into the room and start with "whadda ya know about ...."  A technical discussion would follow and you could see the wheels turning in his head.  Sometimes I was never sure if he was listening to me, or using the conversation to organize his thoughts.  Then he would disappear as quickly as he came.  A week would go by and suddenly he would stick his head in the door and continue the conversation where we left it.  By that point he had worked the problem through and probably had implemented the solution, he'd let me know what the solution was (turns out he had listened to me after all because he'd let me know if I was right), then he'd blow out of the room again.

He never met a technical challenge he wouldn't dive into.  I was working a project and we had some data from an instrument he was familiar with.  We were having some issues with the data and he asked me to send him some.  I saw him in the parking lot on a Friday evening while I was on my way home.  I mentioned that I sent him some data and that we could talk about it on Monday.  Before I even got home, I had an email from him that he had started  working on the data, and I got about three more emails from him over the weekend.  By the time I saw him Monday, he had crunched through the data and figured out the issue we were having.

What impressed me most was the way he battled cancer.  I can only imagine the ordeal each treatment was on him, but the following week he was back at work.  Throughout he kept that gleam in his eye and the smile on his face.  I will miss hearing "So Hoober-Doober, whatta we got that's good?"  I will miss his corny jokes, the thousands of pictures he would take no matter where he went, the energy he'd bring into a room; I will miss him.

Dave Huber

Two decades ago, I began working with Mark Davis at the Naval Research Laboratory, both of us being AlliedSignal contractors at the time. We shared an office until I moved away to work for private industry eight years later. Working beside Mark daily, I learned a lot from him and about him.

I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that Mark worked at the pace of two (or three) "ordinary" humans, and thereby accomplished more in his abbreviated lifetime than most career professionals ever will. Mark was an A+ problem solver, always thinking at least two steps ahead of where he was at and rarely wanting to make a solution more complicated than it needed to be. The problems we worked were not child's play, and the level of frustration for the tasks at hand was often high. But Mark persevered - even thrived - when challenged, and he had the admirable ability to shake off those frustrations when he stepped away from his desk.

Mark was a prolific reader, speed-reading technical content unbelievably fast. Mark's desk and shelves supported towering stacks of papers, reports, and technical memoranda that grew taller over time. What may have looked like a mess to visitors was really his filing system. He could go the correct pile, part it like a deck of cards, and like a magician pull out the appropriate document that was relevant to whatever problem we were discussing. Upon leaving the Lab for the day, he would lug sections of these piles home, and then study them while reclined in his favorite La-Z-Boy, sometimes spending all night there. Mark had less patience for doing his own technical writing (unless of course he was writing computer code!); he preferred the "work" over the "paperwork".

Mark endured long drives in his small pick-up truck to and from the Lab and Greenbelt (NASA) so that he could reside close to the shallow waterways of the Chesapeake. He would set aside time to enjoy the outdoors, taking a hike or paddling his kayak in solitude with nature. He was extremely sociable for a person of his technical caliber -- sometimes going so far as to invent faux holidays as an excuse to fellowship with co-workers outside of the office (for example, hosting a "birthday party" for an NRL spacecraft).

As a young man, Mark worked some physically demanding jobs, such as serving as a lifeguard and working at an auto tire shop. Though he was regarded most for his prowess with software and circuits, those early years gave him good mechanical instincts and cultivated his renowned work ethic. When I first relocated to the DC area, Mark drove several hours round-trip out to my house on his day off because he wanted to help us get settled and assist me with some repairs. In hindsight, he lived by the Scout Oath and Law and the Golden Rule, and always seemed willing to help others. Employed far from his hometown, he valued his relationships with relatives living at a distance: he spent his few vacations getting back to his roots, and upon his return to the office he would share enjoyable anecdotes about the time he had spent visiting with his brothers family, or parents, or a larger family reunion...

I was comforted knowing of the care and ministry Mark received from family, friends, and colleagues during his illness. Many of my most-satisfying professional experiences involved working with Mark. Despite all of his accomplishments, he remained a kind and humble man for as long as I knew him. Five years after his passing, the memory of my exemplary colleague Mark Davis still endures, and I am better for having known him.