Clay Kirkland
My favorite memory of Mark is when we first met on June 3, 1993. My brother and I walked into the title office on the west side of the Osceola square to sign the papers to buy half of the farm owned by Bob and Helen Reed. Mark and his family were buying the other half, which adjoined their property on two sides. Mark walked right up to me and said, "Howdy, neighbor", and stuck out his hand. I was immediately touched by his kindness. He was an amazing man. A great athlete, and a really hard worker. He was a real genius, knew lots about a lot of skills. He was a dedicated family man, to his parents, his wife, and their two beautiful children. A truly amazing story is that when his dad turned the tractor over on himself, Mark lifted the tractor off long enough for his dad to crawl out from under it. Mark gave up his dream of going to college so he could stay home and run the farm because his dad was no longer able. Words seem pretty inadequate. I'll just say Mark gave a lot of love to those around him.