THE SPECTATOR: HUGE LOSS FOR OUR FAMILY

  

Our family suffered a huge loss last week with the passing of my brother, Mark Whitehead.  Due to health reasons, Mark was forced to retire after spending his lifetime as Chief Engineer for our company radio stations.  But Mark was much more than an engineer for our company.  He took care of everything from the plumbing to the vehicles to the insurance.  He was our computer and IT guy, who built the station websites.  He maintained our high voltage transmitters, and even climbed the towers when it was necessary.  But his expertise didn’t end there.  Mark was a superb photographer and videographer.  His videos of Maifest parades, spelling bees, livestock auctions and candidate forums were viewed tens of thousands of times.  He spent many evenings at sporting events taking priceless photos of kids playing games they loved.  Growing up with Mark, it was clear early on that he was mechanically minded as he played with tinker toys and erector sets.   After building an AM radio from scratch, Mark became interested in short wave radio, “ham radio”.  A copper wire antenna ran the length of our home’s rooftop.  At the age of 14, he was probably one of the youngest to pass the exam for a third-class operator’s license for a radio station.  While he enjoyed his work, I believe the job loved the most was being a husband to his wife Heidi, a father to seven children, and especially being a grandfather to 12 grandchildren.  A few things you may not have known about Mark.  He loved Nascar, World War II airplanes, building sports cars, and eating chocolate pie.  He was a pilot who bought his own plane in order to fly to visit his kids in Arizona.  And, as Pastor Kyle Ogle said at his funeral, Mark was a Mr. Fix It.  He could fix just about anything, including people.  Mark was also one of the kindest persons you could ever hope to meet.  I’m not sure I ever saw him angry, except maybe at AT&T.  Oh, there was the time as kids when I pestered him to wrestle me as we watched professional wrestling on TV.  Normally the biggest reaction you would get from him when something was wrong, was a long, pronounced sigh.  I’m going to really miss those sighs….and his unique way of laughing.  Mark, I know you are enjoying racing cars, flying planes, and eating chocolate pie in heaven.  And that’s the way it looks to this big brother the Spectator.