David Lorence Mack

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Rev. David Lorence Mack on July 4, 2025, in Plano, Texas. He was 91.

Born on August 26, 1933, in Schoolcraft, Michigan, David was the middle child of nine, raised on a working farm by his parents, Return and Eunice (Swinehart) Mack. With two older brothers, two older sisters, two younger brothers, and two younger sisters, David’s childhood was filled with hard work and strong family and community bonds. Even in his last months he remembered his high school cheer.

A voracious reader, David earned a degree in English from Western Michigan University and went on to graduate from Western Theological Seminary in 1958 with a Master of Divinity degree. It was during a student ministry internship in Chicago that he met Judith Brown, a young parishioner who would change his life. When he returned home, he told his parents, “I met the woman I’m going to marry.”

David and Judy were married on June 25, 1960, and shared 65 joyful years together. David began his ministry with the Reformed Church in America, serving as pastor of Knapp Street Reformed Church in Grand Rapids (1960–1965) and First Reformed Church in Spring Lake (1965–1970). In 1970, he founded the Marketplace Ministry, an innovative storefront counseling and outreach center in Eastbrook Mall (now The Shops at Centerpoint) in Grand Rapids.

In 1975, David and Judy packed up their Michigan home and moved to Plano with their four children. Judy opened a sewing machine dealership and fabric store in Richardson, while David served several Presbyterian churches as an interim pastor. Soon, David found his true vocational calling as a chaplain at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, where he ministered for more than 20 years. He provided spiritual support to countless patients, families, and staff—especially children living with cystic fibrosis—and became a beloved figure in the hospital’s Jackson oncology wing. He also faithfully donated blood throughout his life.

David loved playing the piano and singing, woodworking, reading history and novels, and quoting the classics, including Chaucer. He never missed his children’s sporting and school events.

He is survived by his wife, Judy (Brown) Mack; his four children: Jayne (Richard Suhler), Julie (Scott Winner), Jonathan (Diane Levitsky), and Joel (Amanda Watkins); ten grandchildren: Sarah, Kathryn, Anna, David, Abigail, Charlotte, Noah, Annabel, Ellyana, and Hunter; and two great-grandchildren: Lucas and Grace.

A memorial service to celebrate Rev. Mack’s life and ministry is being planned; details will be announced by the family.

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to a local blood bank, to the North Texas Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, or by calling the Texas Health Resources Foundation and making a donation in support of the Chaplain David Erb Endowment.