Lowell “Mark” Wheat was born January 3, 1931 in Carthage,Missouri, passed from this life on December 25, 2024 in Huntsville, Alabama. He graduated from Carthage High School in 1949, and immediately took a bus to Atlanta Georgia, where he studied aeronautical engineering at Georgia Tech. He was involved in ROTC and Co-op work, and in 1953 at the end of his final co-op term he married his high school sweetheart, Martha Alice. They were married for 66 years before she preceded him in death, May 1, 2019. Mark has been a member at Huntsville Christian Church (HCC) since 1964 where he and Martha raised their three children, Janice, Timothy, and Amy.
Mark was a deacon, an elder, a Sunday School teacher and a handyman around the church. He worked on the two buildings that HCC has had, countless other churches around the eastern United States, and several church camps with an organization called Church Builders. He also used those talents to build houses with Habitat for Humanity and beautified the HCC grounds with a wooden bridge. He worked as an engineer for the US Army and as a civilian with the Army Missile Command from 1955-1986, then with CAS,inc until he retired and worked as a tour bus driver at the Space and Rocket Center.
Mark was also well known to the members of his church and all their friends as a reliable auto mechanic, because he was willing to help whenever necessary and never charged for labor. He volunteered with boy scouts, as a driver and judge for high school debate (2 years with Jan and 4 years with Tim), as a baseball umpire, and a driver of children of all ages to church events. He was both dedicated and compassionate. The volunteer job he enjoyed the most was as Coach Wheat. He spent more than 25 years at little league fields all over town, but especially at Fern Bell Park coaching 7-8 year olds in football. Before Fern Bell Park was moved the city had named the football field for Coach Mark Wheat!
Mark enjoyed sailing; he may have enjoyed building his own sailboat even more. He golfed and camped with family and friends and he was a runner. Mark started running at 50 and ran until his late 80’s. He liked running with others and encouraged friends and family to run also. He ran in races near and far from Huntsville. Some favorites were Bay Breakers in San Francisco, BolderBoulder in Colorado, Azalea Trail in Mobile, Vulcan Run in Birmingham, and of course the Cotton Row and Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville.
Mark was preceded in death by his wife, Martha, parents John and Myrtle Wheat and one brother, John Russell Wheat. He will be missed by his children, Janice (Herb) Henderson, Timothy (Judy), Amy (Eddie) Vandergrift; brothers, Carroll Gene, Gary (Brenda); sisters-in-law Mary McWilliams and Barbara Pendleton; grandchildren, Aaron, Michelle, Phoebe, Ray, Rachel, James, Jessica; great-grandchildren, Brooke, Brecken, Malei, Braedyn, Gemma, Tre’, Lily, Elizabeth, Alice, and numerous nieces and nephews. Mark was highly esteemed and loved by dear friends and we are very thankful for all that they have done for our Dad. We are especially grateful to Dad’s primary doctor, Chris Russell, he has gone above and beyond to help us as we cared for our dad.
We will lay his body to rest during a graveside service at Maple Hill Cemetery, Sunday December 29 at 2:00pm. There will be a time of visitation with the family at Laughlin Service Funeral Home from 11:30am – 1:30pm preceding the burial for those who wish to pay their respects. Anyone who wishes to honor Mark can by donating to one of his favorite charities, St. Jude Hospital for Children.
