This is truly devasting news - I'm stunned and at a loss for words.

Thank you to all who have posted pictures - putting a face to the name - for those of us who never had the good fortune to meet Mark in person.

My sincere condolences to Mark's family and friends over your tragic loss.

Its just an awful thing to happen - he is too young to be gone

Mark,

Eventhough we never met. I am saddened and in tears. Thank you for this wonderful forum.

My sincere condolences to his fiance, family, friends and loved ones.

Mark,

Ron and I so loved meeting with you in Venice, Italy this past Christmas. You and Lynn and Lilly filled our hearts with such joy. I still remember the evening you proposed to Lynn. We had a lovely dinner together, went up to your hotel room to see Lilly and enjoyed our time so much together. But that night after we left you took Lynn and Lilly to the Rialto Bridge and proposed marriage. Of course, Lynn called me and I called you back right away. We talked about your love and how you told us that our marriage of 28 years had inspired you to propose to your love, Lynn. Thank you for that. And thank you for letting us dog sit Lilly in Venice so you and Lynn could have some alone time. I still see you in our apartment in Venice, on the floor with Lilly when you came to pick her up late in the evening. She was so much your baby and adored you, Mark.

Thank you for sharing your last letter to your Mother with me. It was the most lovely letter I ever read. It brought tears to my eyes and you told your Mother about your new diving equipment and that you were being so careful and keeping safe. I know your Mother cherishes this letter and I am so privledged you shared it with me.

Friends like you are a rare jewel. My heart breaks for Lynn and Lilly, your family, your friends and your wonderful community here. I will miss you but promise to keep Lynn and Lilly in my life forever. Kisses to you and much love. Please kiss my daughter Jessica in heaven, she has been there almost 1 year now and let her embrace you as well.

We love you Mark and will see you someday again! Cynthia & Ron

my condolences and deep regards to his family..
may you sleep in peace.
inseldk

I am deeply shocked at this news!

I didn't need to meet Mark physically to know how special he was. I am one of the 'quiet' daily lurkers of the English forum, but this resource has been invaluable to me and my family. It answered so many of our questions right from the moment we were preparing to move to Switzerland.

For us, coming from Africa, was a steep mountain to climb. Things are very different in Europe from Africa. When you factor in language, culture differences, schools for children, housing etc, I cannot find sufficient words to describe how invaluable the English forum has been. I never needed to ask a question, because the questions had already been asked, all I needed was to locate the relevant thread and bingo! The infor was there.

I could go on and on but there is no need. My words will never be sufficient.

Thank you Mark, and may you rest in peace.

I only just read this, a tragic and unbelievable event.

My condolences to the family and a big thanks to the man for bringing us all together to be able to help one another adjusting to life in Switzerland.

It wasn't long after I joined this forum that I sent Mark this private message, and I followed his advice. Thank you, Mark, your dedication to this forum has been worth every minute. Rob



Re: Who?
I started it

If you find it useful for you - consider clicking the green donation link in the menu at the top.

Regards,
Mark

like so many others, i never actually met you, but your effort & vision has greatly informed my experience is switzerland thus far.

rest in peace, mark & my deepest condolences to all your loved ones.

Very sad news indeed. My sincere condolences to his family, friends and fiancè.

I'm extremely sorry to read that Mark died. My heartfelt best wishes to Lynn, his family and friends. I wish you much courage and strength to cope with your incredible loss. Also my thanks to those on the EF-team who carry on his work, despite their sadness.
Nicola

This was taken from Mark's personal site. Lily was the apple of his eye. It was a pain in the backside walking down the street with them because Lily would always be finding some treat to feast on and Mark would have to stop everything and fish it out of her mouth. Then it was cuddles for a few minutes (with the dog, not me). Or, sitting in a cafe with every person in the room at one point or other coming over to chat to us. I felt like the Ugly mate. And yes, even I took a shine to Lily. I can see how such a small animal had such an effect on the Big Guy.

I'm sorry I can no longer return the many beers bought, pizzas eaten and intriques shared by this very generous and caring man. His slightly cynical but sincere attitude was refreshing and a great pleasure. He seemed to know an awful lot about everything without a hint of Ego.

Let's all do what we can to keep this Forum going in the spirit Mark wanted.

Does anyone else from the Forum feel the need to do something concrete to celebrate Marks life and just how much he's "this forum's " done for so many people. One feels so helpless and inadequate at times like this.

I will be organising a rememberance event on my return after easter... details will follow

The forum has been a great help to me, having arrived recently in Switzerland. I'm a relative newcomer to the forum, and never knew Mark personally, but from what I have read here he seems to have been a genuinely good guy.

I think the best way we can all commemorate Mark is to keep englishforum.ch going in the lively way he envisioned.

Tim

Dear Mark,

We first met in 97 in Frankfurt and last spoke in 2006. He got me into diving, started the dive club here that he and I ran, and took me on my first open water course in Kelsterbach, what an experience that was

We enjoyed diving trips, conversations, late night drinking and journeys around Europe in those hazy early days of our friendship, and to repeat what many people have already said Mark was an extremely generous and open person, always someone I could rely on to set me straight or help me out.

You left Frankfurt, I stayed, then I left (you were one of my sponsors for Australia) and I came back. You were shifting around and were never in one place for too long until you found somewhere to finally park your servers, CH. Oh the drives from Frankfurt to Zurich were a pain, but the once there it was always a pleasure, in the end thank good for skype!

We talked, we laughed, we discussed, we debated, we danced, we ate, we dived, we gamed, we fought, but always ended up as friends do, by simply being. It didnt matter that we had opinons that were at odds with the other, I respected that most of all. What a great guy.

Mark and I often debated throughout 2003-2005 about technical diving and where to go and what do to for training etc, ending up in him becoming a technical diving instructor and me being on the first course he ran, oh what a hard task master!

Steve

My sincerest condolences to all Mark's family and friends.
It's a great testament to how special he must have been, that so many people like myself who knew nothing about him and never met, spoke or corresponded directly with him, still feel deeply saddened by this loss.

What tragic and awfully sad news!
May you rest in peace,Mark.
My sympathy to all those you loved and who loved you..may they
find peace in their wonderful memories of you.You will always remain
in their hearts.

I am not exactly sure what to say, as I never met Mark, but as Hillseeker mentioned, we were just discussing last night at the cycling get together, how great this site was and how much we owed to Mark for running it and setting it up. Long Live Mark's memory here. Thanks Mark.

Oh bummer.

R.I.P. Mark and condolence to the family and Lynn.

I'm glad that I didn't delete the conversation which I had with Mark even though it wasn't a very pleasant one.