In Memory of Mark

Mark

Frequent readers of my bi-weekly blog postings visit for a few minutes of escapism, perhaps even humor. Today, though, I write with sorrow over the tragic loss of my nephew, Mark Urban. While today’s entry is made at a time of great sorrow, it’s my hope that I am able to combine an account of this news with a celebration of a life lived fully.

Mark, who was 40, lived and worked in Idaho where he was a smoke jumper with the federal Bureau of Land Management. He had made hundreds of jumps over his 11 years as a smoke jumper, and he was a leader in the program, also overseeing rookie training. Last Friday, he participated in a high-altitude 6K foot descent that involved the testing of a new piece of equipment. Tragically, Mark’s parachute did not deploy properly.

Few words can describe the loss felt by Mark’s family – especially his wife, Becca, his parents and his sister – and all of his friends, none more than the close-knit family of smoke jumpers. Words do, however, serve as a starting point in celebrating a life lived fully.

Mark grew up in Western Massachusetts. “A great kid from the day he was born,” someone said this weekend. He sure was. Bikes, Spiderman (Spidey as I recall), Dukes of Hazard, Go-carts.

Mark was a strong swimmer from a young age, but by the time he was a freshman at East Longmeadow High School he was also playing football. Some years later I told him that I had a memory of a Thanksgiving Day football game with Mark, a free-style swimmer, lined-up against an opponent who must have weighed 300 pounds. Mark laughed when I shared the memory, but he knew the opposing player’s name – his weight, too (all of 300) – because he had that assignment several times over four years of varsity football.

Later, Mark studied forestry at UMASS -Amherst, with a brief National Guard stint in Europe supporting the peace operation in Bosnia. Following graduation, Mark needed only a few months behind a desk to confirm that his career choices would be driven by a need to be outdoors and he headed west.

Mark & Becca

(Mark and Becca – East Longmeadow High School Prom)

In Kohler, Wisconsin he led a crew on the construction of the Blackwolf Run golf course. The course designer, Pete Dye, took an interest in Mark’s career, but Mark’s focus was further west. In Lake Tahoe, Mark taught snowboarding at Heavenly during the day and he parked cars at the casino in the evening where tips from big winners funded surfing trips to California and Mexico. In the offseason, Mark began firefighting as a member of the California Interagency Hotshots, leading to his interest in becoming a smoke jumper.

Mark visited us in Rhode Island the year he was in training to be a smoke jumper. I remember being astounded by his marathon-type training runs with a final portion along the beach – all while wearing work boots. The next year, Mark joined the ranks of the Bureau of Land Management’s Smoke Jumpers in Idaho. In Boise, Mark settled in with the girl he had taken to his high school prom, and five years ago, Mark and Rebecca Ohlin married. Together, they bought a house and lived a life defined by a love of the outdoors, shared with others.

In many ways it would appear that Mark gravitated toward risk. I think, though, that it was the pull of nature and wonderment that defined Mark. He hiked and snowboarded back-country mountains that were off the worn track and he surfed, fished, and hunted in faraway areas. As a smoke jumper, Mark parachuted into the very most remote locations in the country.

Mark’s life of exploration was especially remarkable to those of us who were at home, working behind desks. We all admired Mark greatly. In fact, on the day before his death I was telling a co-worker how Mark had once driven across the country in his Jeep, stopping at night to rig one end of his hammock to the roll bar and the other end to a tree. During that same conversation last week I also said that Mark was cautious and well prepared, and that family and friends back home couldn’t get over that this motorcylce driving smoke jumper drove the speed limit on the highway.

Today, the loss is enormous. Our hearts ache. Yet, this Friday, a celebration of life will take place in Boise. In more than one way we will embrace the fact that this wonderful young man died while living.

Mark