Mark Lafayette Jeter Jr.

Funeral Arrangements are under the direction of Southern Heritage Funeral Home in Pelham, AL. If you have questions regarding the arrangements, you can contact the funeral home at 205-988-3511.

The family will not be holding a service at the Funeral home, and therefore respectfully requests that no flowers be sent. The family would request that any donations made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (www.stjude.org) or to Wounded Warriors Project (www.woundedwarriorsproject.org), or to your own favorite charity, be made in his honor and memory.

The graveside service will begin promptly at 2:45pm Thursday May 29, 2014 at the Alabama National Cemetery (3133 Highway 119, Montevallo, AL, 35115.)

Mark is survived by his wife of 44 years Barbara Reaves Jeter, his daughter Leigh Ann Jeter, his son Mark L. Jeter III, his son Dale E Cox and daughter-in-law Tahme M Cox, and his grandson Cody Mark Cox, who was his little buddy and shared his name.

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Mark was a graduate of Woodlawn High School in 1948, and a graduate of Howard College (now Samford University) in 1954 after attending night school for 8 years on the GI Bill. Mark was in the United States Marine Corps and served in the Korean War from July 1950 through March 1952. He spent 13 months in Korea, landing in Hung Nam Oct 12, 1950, and left on Thanksgiving Day in 1951. Most notably, he was a Section Chief and Sergeant in the Battle at Chosin Reservoir, the worst battles of the entire war, and one of the worst battles in history.

After returning from Korea, he went back to work at Steiner Rouse where he started out in the Investment industry by “marking the board.” Upon his return, he was able to get his licensing and become a registered stock broker (you had to be 21 yrs old to get registered at that time.) He left Steiner Rouse in 1955 and began working for Courts & Co., until 1962. He then left to become a partner at Kohlmeyer & Co. from 1963 until 1970. Mark then worked for Thomson & McKinnon, Inc. for 19 years as a Vice-President and Manager, until it was purchased by Prudential Securities, Inc where he remained for another 5 years. He then worked for Dean Witter (later Morgan Stanley) in 1995, where his daughter Leigh Ann joined him later that year after graduating college. He remained at Morgan Stanley until November 2002 and joined Morgan Keegan & Co., Inc in December 2002. He retired from Morgan Keegan November 2012, at the age of 82.

Mark always loved sports, and coached his son Dale in baseball, and his daughter Leigh Ann in softball. He attended every game that his children ever played in any sport through their entire lives, including suffering through quite a few dance recitals for his daughter. His first priority was always his family and his passion in life was the financial markets. He always took great care of his clients and their families, and was willing to help anyone, anytime. He was thoughtful, generous, and always a true gentleman. He was incredibly smart, and had the best sense of humor. He loved a good joke, or a funny story. One of his favorite things was his last dog, Jack. Jack was an unexpected Christmas present for Mark and Barbara from their children, and was not well-received. There were expletives, and he was looking for another home for this puppy. Long story short, Jack quickly became dad’s best buddy forever, and he loved that dog as a family member for all 16 years of Jack’s life. We believe that Jack was waiting to greet Mark with his tail-wagging.