Mark Sun Ho

Mark Sun Ho was born around April 11, 1934 in Guangdong Province, China, the youngest of six children. His father was a civil servant with the Chinese government, while his mother was a homemaker. Due to the Second Sino-Japanese War, the family fled their home several times, eventually making their way to Hong Kong in 1949 as refugees, and settled in Sha Tin. Despite a lack of formal secondary education and no high school diploma, Mark self-studied and passed the college entrance exam, and matriculated at National Taiwan University in 1957 in Taipei on a full scholarship.

In 1962, Mark emigrated to the United States by attending Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, again on a full scholarship. He received a M.A. in Sociology in 1964. That Fall, Mark moved to Washington, DC to join the U.S. Department of Defense as a researcher and language specialist.

In the summer of 1969, Mark met his wife-to-be, Anita Lee, at the Chinese Christian Church of Greater Washington, DC (CCCGW). They married in June 1970, and lived in Bethesda, MD. Mark continued his federal government service with a post in Taiwan from 1978 to 1982, after which the family settled in Rockville, MD. The family returned to CCCGW and Mark served in the teaching and music ministries, the deacon board, and more. When the opportunity came up for an early retirement buyout, he took it and retired in 1994 after 30 years of civil service.

In retirement, he continued his involvement at church, eventually becoming an elder in November 2000. He also enjoyed traveling internationally and doing freelance translation work. He published articles on Christianity in several Chinese journals and also taught a course on Chinese culture and Christianity at the local community college.

Health challenges in later years did not diminish Mark’s love for the local church. His wife Anita went home to the Lord in 2012 after battling cancer, during which Mark was her primary caretaker. Mark developed Guillain-Barrė Syndrome in 2016. Despite this painful physical ailment, he mostly recovered, and continued to be involved at CCCGW and preaching at other churches. He even continued to preach via Zoom during the pandemic. But in September 2021, he became ill from metastatic cancer in his lungs. Mark died on October 7 in Rockville, MD, at the age of 87.

Mark is survived by his daughter Pam of Gaithersburg, MD, his son, Andy, daughter-in-law Melissa, and granddaughter Vivien, all of McLean, VA.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 23, from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon, followed by a lunch reception at Chinese Christian Church, 7716 Piney Branch Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910. If you plan to attend, we kindly ask you to register your attendance by filling out this online form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd77e_TXmA5LbpwpH61QaLnTwS2z1alPOdGJJgLG0FVwYhPng/viewform?usp=sf_link by Thursday, October 21.

If you cannot attend in person, you are welcome to join a livestream of the service. A link will be provided as it becomes available.

A separate graveside service for family will be taking place on Friday, October 15.

Flowers or donations may be sent to Chinese Christian Church in memory of Mark Ho.