This morning I received that Mark, my friend of some 20 years, died of a heart attack over the weekend. It happened very suddenly and does not sound like it was related to Covid. I've written about him before.
Interesting guy and I am going to miss him.
He was born in a little Eastern Washington farm town called Dayton. His Dad was a farmer there and his brother still is. Mark had bigger dreams - went to WSU and started a career in food processing. He worked all over the country for various companies - Green Giant, Hunt/Wesson, Pillsbury, Con Agra. His specialty was engineering production lines and processes to manufacture new products an/or improve efficiency of existing lines.
About ten years ago he decided he'd had enough of corporate America, sold his house down the street from me, moved back to Washington, and commenced to farming. It wasn't long before he had a fair-sized operation going - some 5K acres. The skills he acquired designing and installing more efficient factory equipment worked out well in the farming business. He built a shop and spent a lot of time building and modifying ever larger pieces of equipment. That level of efficiency allowed him to run the entire operation with just two crew - an amazing thing.
The thing to know about Mark is that he really, really loved farming. He used to talk about retiring but we all knew it would never happen. He loved everything about it - the little town, being outside, the challenges, the technology, the people, the opportunities.
Mark died doing what he loved most.
RIP.
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Life is short. Play with your dog.
Jodi
