Mark was a Vietnam veteran who served in the United States Army, before retiring as a Major. He then attended law school and joined the Harris County District Attorney's Office in 1983. During his lengthy tenure at the D.A.'s Office, he served as a teacher and mentor to many prosecutors for several decades, and he was known for being a skilled trial lawyer. Mark was also highly regarded as a fair, honorable and friendly prosecutor.
After his retirement from the D.A.'s Office in 2005, he practiced criminal defense and was an adjunct professor at Texas Southern University's Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Mark never stopped mentoring younger lawyers.
I never had the pleasure of being directly supervised by Mark, but I knew him and highly respected him. He was a classic example of the gentleman lawyer who represented everything good about there was about our profession. He defined collegiality and believed in fighting hard in the courtroom, but respecting your opponents outside of it. Everyone he saw, he greeted with a smile and a firm handshake.
Mark's passing was a tremendous shock to all of us because he was the picture of health. I saw him last week, and he didn't appear to have aged a bit. Quite frankly, I was shocked to read that he was 79. I thought he was younger than that. Former Harris County prosecutor and 9th District Court Judge Phil Grant saw Mark in his court in Montgomery County and posted this picture.
Mark's obituary can be found here. He lived an amazing life. As of this writing, I do not know about his funeral arrangements. I will post them as soon as I know something.
My condolences go out to Mark's family. I hope they know that he was a very loved and respected member of our courthouse family, as well.
1 comment:
Terrible shock! I first met Mark when we worked at the DA's office in the 1980s. We were part
of what I jokingly called "the Fort Bend county contingent" of the office since Mark lived not far from me in Sugar Land. I've often run into him at the grocery store, gas station and in the Fort Bend county courts. Mark had that great military bearing and would laugh when he recounted how the late Andy Tobias would call him "General". He was a helluva trial lawyer as well and was the type of prosecutor who would beat you fair and. square or not at all. The legal community has suffered a great loss. Fair winds old friend .
Sid Crowley
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