Born on a distant planet circling a red sun, Mark Schoenfeld was exiled from Krypton as an infant and raised in the rustic Iowa town of Smallville by the Kents … no, wait … That was Superman. However, just as important to all of us, Mark Schoenfeld passed away on September 7th, 2025 in Gilbert, Arizona. Born on October 1st, 1945 to Gladys Wolff and William Schoenfeld in Manhattan, New York, Mark was a hero to his family and friends.
While working on his Masters in Geology at the University of Wyoming, he met his wife, Chantal Shafe, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 1966. After graduating, they married in 1968 and moved to Denver, Colorado for a while, but the glitz and glamour of Hopewell Junction, New York, beckoned and the couple moved back to New York. Here Mark began the glorious and underappreciated work of shaping young minds in the hallowed halls of Walter Panis High School as an earth science teacher. During this time, they produced three children of varying degrees of perspicacity (Daniel Richard, married to Debbie Versace), comeliness (Robert Aaron, married to Laura Green) and personal hygiene (Gary Michael, married to Shannon Parrish). For the next 45 years, Mark was a fixture in Hopewell Junction high society, often being seen making absurdly corny puns and jokes, umping baseball games, line judging at soccer matches, sporting New York Islander merch, perusing the local Barnes and Noble and frequenting the finer sushi establishments of the Hudson Valley.
With all three of his children eventually settling the greater Phoenix area in the 2010s, Mark and Chantal relocated to Chandler, Arizona in 2018. While always holding the Hudson Valley in his heart, Mark was a blessed addition to his family in Arizona. His silliness, decency, caring and dad jokes made everyone around him feel special, seen and loved. Those who still feel his love and hold him in their heart are his grandchildren – Ryan, Christopher, RJ, Katie, Michael, Jack, Alexa, Keanan and Brayden – and the sadly unmet great-grandchild (who will be subjected to all the corny jokes that we were told) Logan.
Mark's Funeral Mass will be held at Saint Steven's Catholic Church, located at 24827 S Dobson Rd, Sun Lakes, Arizona, 85248. The service is scheduled for September 18, 2025, starting at 10:00 am.
Following the Funeral Mass, a Graveside Service for Mark will take place at Valley of the Sun Mortuary & Cemetery, 10940 E Chandler Heights Rd, Chandler, Arizona, 85248. The service is set to begin at 11:30 am on the same day.
