He was a true Ham his house was piled high with Tubes, radios, antennas and any parts you could think of. I had just talked to him about two weeks before he became a SK. I had just upgraded to General from Teck Plus and he had 5 Yaseu 101EE one for each of the different band 80-15 meters. I called because he was going to give me a HF Radio so we could have a time to talk on the HF band. he lived around the corner from me in Richmond Hill NY. but when he got on the phone with you he could Chew your ear off. He was the poster Ham for the ARRL Award the Rag Chewers .... The day I called from CA was to tell him I had a strange dream the night before in which Mark was chewing my ear off on the phone. His son Mark Jr returned my Call telling me that his dad had died two weeks ago in the early hours of the same day I had called. I still miss the calls from him as did my Ex.
I bet Mark is on the HF bands Chewing the Rag with St. Pete at the Gates of Heaven. I miss you "Walter" (that was his pet name my ex gave him because of his flapping jaw. 73's and 88's Mark.