Mark Randal David

Devoted and beloved father and grandfather Mark Randal David, 74, joined his Heavenly Father on Wednesday, March 30, 2022. The middle of three sons of Archie Merlin David and Nancy Hann David of Lebanon, Indiana, Mark was born on October 30, 1947. From an early age, Mark exhibited a natural athleticism and strong work ethic – two defining characteristics that led to his success both in sports and in business. A gracious competitor, Mark played four years of varsity baseball in Lebanon and Lafayette, Indiana, and he set the single-season school record of batting a .423 for the Lebanon Bronchos. A left-handed pitcher and a first baseman, Mark was All-NCC and team MVP his senior year, leading his team to the state runner-up title in the summer leagues. After his high school graduation in 1966, he played and lettered in baseball at Indiana University and then transferred to Purdue University, where he was the starting pitcher on the Boilermaker’s baseball team for two years. Upon graduation from Purdue with a degree in business, he played semi-pro baseball in Indiana and in Kansas. Then, after “hanging up his glove,” he picked up a child’s softball bat so he could coach his two daughters during their years of playing sports and following in his footsteps.

In business, Mark had a successful sales career with Taylor Publishing, and he retired after 43 years of working in Houston, Dallas, and Mandeville, Louisiana. Mark had an entrepreneurial spirit and drive for success, leading him to move his young family from Houston to Louisiana to open his own sales territory for Taylor Publishing. Later in his career, he enjoyed diving into different industries with a common thread of applying his business insight, salesmanship, and incredible gift for fostering relationships with people. In his spare time, Mark steadfastly pursued his passion for writing and reading, and he was the proud author of two published novels and 150 short stories.

A lifelong sports enthusiast, Mark never knew a sport that did not interest him; he knew facts about every star player and could rattle off even the most obscure stats about his favorite teams. From playing racquetball and tennis, to watching and playing baseball, to track and field to golf, and to watching football and playing ping pong, Mark found joy in all aspects of sports until the very end of his life. But more than that, sports were his conduit to building lifelong, loving relationships. In devoting many years to coaching his young daughters’ softball and soccer teams (he even pored over detailed instructional manuals so he could be a more effective coach for his children and their friends!), he was always there to brush off his children’s tears and comfort them following a loss.

An amazing father and the true embodiment of unconditional love, Mark also found incredible joy in his role as the grandfather of five adoring grandchildren – helping each of them to carry on his love of sports to the next generation.

Mark was kind, steady, patient, loyal, and funny. He worked tirelessly to provide for his family, frequently on the road for business, yet he created a work-life balance that helped his daughters believe they were the center of his universe. He was a peacemaker while also being the greatest protector of his daughters, Christen and Mindy, throughout their lives. Mark loved making friends with all people, and his easygoing personality meant he had no shortage of friends. Mark enjoyed making people laugh and telling jokes, and even as his health and cognitive abilities declined, he maintained the greatest sense of humor, quick wit, and a loving heart.

In his final act of service, which he personally decided shortly after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Mark donated his brain and tissues to the UTHealth McGovern Medical School Neurocognitive Disorders Center in the hope that he could play a small part in advancing academic and medical research of Alzheimer’s disease. His family takes comfort in knowing that his beautiful mind lives on through the research that his brain will help support.

Mark is survived by his eldest daughter, Christen David Bagley and husband Brian, grandchildren Louise, Thomas, Caroline, and Charles; younger daughter Mindy Nicole Jaynes and granddaughter Madison; brother Mike and wife Kay; brother Joel and wife Elaine; and former wife, Linda Halla Bowe. Mark is preceded in death by his father and stepmother, Archie and Madge David; his mother, Nancy David; and his nephew, Andrew David.

Services are being held at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston, and Mark will be laid to rest in the Sudley United Methodist Church family cemetery in Manassas, Virginia.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Mark’s name to The Amazing Place, a Houston non-profit organization with a mission to empower lives disrupted by dementia, providing critical services to those suffering from these tragic diseases of the brain, as well as resources for their families, caregivers and loved ones at amazingplacehouston.org.

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