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: I served with Mark at DLI (Vietnamese) at Monterey, CA. Traveled with him and two others to visit a…
Happy Birthday dear brother Mark. You are in my heart and on my mind today. Thank you for the joy…
Thank you for sharing your memories of my big brother. Ruthie
I knew Mark a long time ago during a brief slice of his life. I might shed some light into…
I was Mark’s team leader on the Chinese team at Camp Pendleton CA. during the mid 70’s. Mark was a…
Happy Birthday dear brother Mark! You are loved and missed.
Thinking of you on your birthday. As your little sister I had to listen to you brag that you were…
🇺🇸Happy Birthday USMC🇺🇸 1775-2020
Yesterday was All Saints Day a special day when we celebrate our relationship with the Saints in Heaven. My thoughts…
I love what you shared, Gretch. It was hard not to be with you and all of the family for…
I’m still saddened by Uncle Mark’s passing and how the pandemic has prevented all of us from mourning together in…
This site and all of the memories are such a beautiful memorial to my Uncle Mark. He was so encouraging…
Thank you to all who have contributed precious memories of Mark through your words and pictures. Thank you John, for…
Mark's Home Page 
Thank you to all who have contributed precious memories of Mark through your words and pictures. Thank you John, for facilitating the communication among all the people in Mark’s circle of love. And a special thanks to Bill and Pete the wordsmith and Webmaster/IT guys who put their hearts and souls into this labor of love. As digital entries arrived I saw you both working through your tears. I love you with all my heart.
Ruthie Quigley
Mark’s sister
Pete’s wife
Bill’s mum
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I’m still saddened by Uncle Mark’s passing and how the pandemic has prevented all of us from mourning together in person. However, the kind words we’ve been able to share and Pop’s hard work on the site have made this difficult time easier. I’m grateful to view the funeral service on this site, but I sure hope we can all get together next year to honor Mark again.
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This site and all of the memories are such a beautiful memorial to my Uncle Mark. He was so encouraging all of my life and supported my French studies and my intellectual curiosity. He also gave us Uncle John, who will forever remain a part of our family.
Mark and John hosted my brother and I in San Francisco and gave us a wonderful tour of the city in 1987. Many of us were also lucky to receive unique, hand-crafted jewelry from John and we all enjoyed the wry wit they would bring to every occasion. What I will remember most is the sound of Uncle Mark’s voice and his laugh. You always knew when he had arrived no matter where you were in the house.
The last time I saw him was at my Aunt Linda’s funeral. We sat together and held hands throughout. I will miss him and will be forever grateful for him.
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I love what you shared, Gretch. It was hard not to be with you and all of the family for Aunt Linda’s service, but I am comforted to know that the calming presence of Uncle Mark was by your side then.
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Yesterday was All Saints Day a special day when we celebrate our relationship with the Saints in Heaven. My thoughts and prayers were of our new family Saint, Mark Patrick. Today, All Souls Day, we remember all of our loved ones who have gone to meet Our Lord.
I spent today visiting this beautiful memorial site. The pictures are charming, the tributes evoked smiles and tears, and the videos showed the love displayed at Mark’s service. Thank you John for taking such good care of our precious Mark. Thank you Pete, Bill, Ruthie and John for creating this tribute. Thanks to those who shared their lovely memories of my dear brother.
Blessings and Love to all.
Mark’s sister Susan
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🇺🇸Happy Birthday USMC🇺🇸
1775-2020
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Thinking of you on your birthday. As your little sister I had to listen to you brag that you were four years older than me. For 3 weeks you would ask me how old I was, and then say, “ Oh, right, I’m four years older than you”. Pure agony. But the tables turned somewhere in our mid-twenties. And I enjoyed many years wishing a happy birthday to my brother who was FOUR years older. Those three weeks were delicious.
Love Always to My Big Brother,
Ruthie
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Happy Birthday dear brother Mark!
You are loved and missed.
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I was Mark’s team leader on the Chinese team at Camp Pendleton CA. during the mid 70’s.
Mark was a buck sergeant then and on the Mandarin ITT ( Interrogation Translation Teams) at that time. ITT was rank heavy so the most junior marines were those at the rank of sergeant. So no matter what sort of crap rolled down hill you could count on Mark to simply let it roll off his back while he wore a huge smile.
I always thought he would become a priest when he left the corps but it seems he chose a different path. The way those who contributed to his obituary, his memory and the obituary itself are all perfect descriptions of the young marine I remember.
Rest in peace Mark.
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I knew Mark a long time ago during a brief slice of his life. I might shed some light into some of his early or lost years, much like the lost years of Jesus Christ. I met Mark when he was a marine sergeant during the time we both attended language school in Monterey. He had been to Taiwan and already had a good grasp of the Chinese language. The language school had students from various branches of the armed services, National Guard and even FBI agents. I was in the US Army at the time and my room in the dormitory was across the hall from his. My roommate was served in the Navy.
Astrology and metaphysics had been an interest of mine. I had spent my college years in Berkeley before I entered the service. One day, I asked if I could do his chart. He agreed and in the process of analyzing his chart I found something quite unusuaI. I reluctantly asked if he was gay and expected to be beaten to a pulp if he was not. Being gay could ruin your chances of a career in the military and get kicked out of the military. The military has changed but still has difficulty with those who are gay let along LGBTQ. I never quite understood this as I knew during the times of the Greeks that gay couples fought together side by side in battle. He admitted he was and I kept his secret.
Mark and I talked about philosophy, his family and his Catholic background. As a young student of astrology, my background was spiritual and open to metaphysical concepts such as reincarnation. He was comfortable with the teachings of the Bible and I sometimes quoted teachings of Lao Tzu. I feel that a past lifetime that he was a soldier and a priest. This carried on to his current incarnation. In olden times most people were not only poor but illiterate. Those in the western civilization those who served in the priesthood was a way to get an education. Priests often travelled and sent to various areas to promote the faith.
Being gay was not easy. I sympathize with many young people who were beaten up by their parents and by those who were less tolerant for being gay. There was and still is strong societal pressure to be accepted and fit in. Mark joined the military. It provided an opportunity to find camaraderie, fellowship and an honorable career. Being of Irish-Catholic heritage he attended seminary before he went into the Marines. After serving his country he went to St. Patrick seminary in Meno Park. I visited him there. Mark was always thinking of what to do for a career. He talked of being a translator for the United Nations, working for the government intelligence agency, and even going to the Vatican.
Mark was a good man and was able to relate to people of all backgrounds and cultures. I attribute this to his religious background of tolerance and being gay. He felt comfortable being exposed to different cultures and backgrounds especially Filipinos, Mexicans and Chinese. His hopes of going to the Vatican was dashed when the St. Patrick seminary in Menlo Park had selected another candidate to go to Rome. He later moved to San Francisco and I lost touch with him. Naturally being gay and living in San Francisco he was familiar with gay bars. I am not gay but I admit that I once went to a gay bar with him. In the back of my mind, I was always afraid that he would be a statistic of the AIDS epidemic of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. I do not do social media but just happened to Google his name hoping that he had not passed away from AIDS. Surprisingly, I found that he passed away last year (2020). I am glad that he lived a good life, to find a sense of belonging and bring love and joy to others.
Alan Mayeda
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Thank you for sharing your memories of my big brother.
Ruthie
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Happy Birthday dear brother Mark.
You are in my heart and on my mind today. Thank you for the joy you added to my life. I love you and miss you.
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: I served with Mark at DLI (Vietnamese) at Monterey, CA. Traveled with him and two others to visit a Carmalite hermitage in the 1968. Spent Christmas with him and his sister’s family at China Lake. Tried to make contact with Mark several years back when doing research on my Vietnam service but was unsuccessful. I was a combat Marine, S-2 Scout with 3rd Battalion/5Marine Reg. Last saw him in Mar 69 at An Hoa. Sorry to learn of his death.
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