Category: personal
When John and I decided to get married, we knew we needed someone very special to perform our ceremony. Because of my history with my late husband, we felt our path to each other was unique and called for a very personal and intimate ceremony. We found Mark Klinepeter through a friend and even though he was busy with his work as a grief counselor and didn’t do weddings anymore, he took us on. What a blessing that was! He not only worked to create a beautiful ceremony for us, but he also ended up giving us pre-marital counseling along the way in the months preceding our wedding. Above the flowers, dresses, food and music, he was, by far, the best part of our wedding.
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He even encouraged us to kiss throughout the ceremony when ever we wanted, which we did many times. (I’ll spare you the photos.) He was perfect for us, he didn’t care about following ceremony guidelines that weren’t meaningful to us. I think Mark is a lot like John where you can see his sweetness in photos.
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This one is my favorite.
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We stayed in touch with Mark and his wife, Connie, over the past two years. Mark and Connie even decided to go to our honeymoon location, Peter Island for Connie’s birthday. We are so glad they went because shortly thereafter Mark was diagnosed with cancer. We saw him over the Christmas holiday and it was so hard. To see such a beautiful man who had touched so many people struggling with such a horrible disease broke my heart. In Connie I saw myself years before when I stood in her shoes. She has been so strong and steadfast in caring for Mark. I could tell when I hugged her frail body that her focus was on her husband, not herself. That’s what you do when the man you love is sick. You give everything you have to make them well again. They have been on my mind and in my heart every day.
Mark passed away last night. He was such a beautiful man who truly touched our life at a very precious time. We are so thankful we knew him and that so many were able to be touched by him.
Thank you for letting me share my story of Mark with you. Please keep his wife Connie in your thoughts.
Photography by Brian Widdis.
what a perfect tribute. this post had me in tears before i even read the end…
how lucky you were betsy and john to have had mark in your lives… that first photo says everything about him.
my thoughts are with you and your family, connie.
love, bobbi
Okay, I’m reading this blog entry, thinking how beautiful you look and how sweet both John and Mark look at your wedding and then I get to the end and I’m in tears!
Oh gosh – definitely will be thinking about you all right now!
Hugs, Gail
Wow, Betsy, what a story. My deepest sympathies to you, John and Mark’s family. It is so sad to lose beautiful people. I don’t know what to say.
Your post brought tears to my eyes as well. You wrote a beautiful tribute for Mark and his family. You have some beautiful memories that will be with you forever! Our sympathies go out to all of you.
Your words are a treasure, wonderful memories. I kept reading and the tears just ran down my cheeks. Mark saved you Betsy, and gave you to John as a renewed spirit.. Andrew and Mark are watching over you and yours. BELIEVE they are having a great time! love you so much MOM
I’m so glad I found your site tonight. Thank you for offering this tribute. I’ve had the honor of having had Mark in my life for nearly 30 years as one of my dearest friends. You’ve captured the essence of him. He lived with such compassion and the ability to love people unconditionally. He died with such grace. He leaves for you, Betsy, and me and all who read here the charge to love each other in the same way. You and I are both so lucky to have known him.
I can’t imagine losing a husband, especially so young. HUGS~ I’m so glad that you have been blessed again, God is good. Your tribute to Mark was beautiful. It’s so awesome to have someone like that to step in and serve as a spiritual guide. You looked beautiful in all the images and as I’m learning it’s more than skin deep. HUGS!
One of the memories we have is when my husband was in the hospital with cancer and wasn’t to make it through the weekend and good friends wanted to get married and Ken was to be there best man, they had asked me if I knew of someone that would marry them and knowing Connie for years and I met Mark through her I thought the perfect person was Mark, so I called him, I arranged for hime to marry them in ICU in my husbands room with the nurses looking on and Connie took video of the wedding. We still talk of that day. Those are Wonderful Memories that will live on forever. To add Mark came many days after that with coffee in hand and had coffee with my husband. I can’t thank him enough for doing that for him, he took the lonelyness out of the day for Ken. For that I will be always grateful that we had the honor of knowing hime and how he touched our lives.
thank you so much for this beautiful tribute to such a beautiful man. he was my father, and it is so wonderful to be able to share other peoples memmories of him. thank you thank you
Marks life was a miracle and he left the world a much better place. He was a wonderful person who touched innumerable numbers of people. I was blessed to have him as an uncle.
How wonderful to see other lives that Mark and Connie have touched. The three of us met through a mutual trainer at a gym a few years ago when he learned that I, too, work in the area of grief and loss. We even share a dear friend, teacher and mentor, Dr. Alan Wolfelt, at the Center for Loss in Fort Collins, Colorado. I was at the Center for additional training this past week and shared our collective sadness for Mark and Connie’s struggle, but also shared the gratitude for their being in our lives. Even those seminar participants who did not know this wonderful couple offered prayers on their behalf. May God give Connie and Nark’s loved ones a peacefulness in knowing that Mark touched so many lives and his legacy of gentleness and compassion will live on through all who knew him.
Mark was my Pastor and then, good friend, for over 35 years. His wonderful personality and unique ablility to share another’s burden was a treasure. Over the years, Mark was the one to whom I could turn in my pain and know that his wise spiritual counsel would bring peace to my soul. I will miss Mark greatly, but will look forward to seeing him again when I leave this realm.
Betsy has been one of my angel’s. Mark was my husband. He was an extraordinary man – full of compassion and love for everyone he came in contact with – always there when you needed him, even unexpectedly. He brought me flowers almost every week for the ten years we were married. He was my best friend, my confidant, my lover and my soul mate. My loss is devastating but part of my loss is the huge void other people will have. Knowing Mark was watching a servant of God in motion. My consolation comes in knowing we will meet again and both “dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
What a lovely man we will all miss so very much! While Mark came to my Center for Loss as a student, he was also my teacher. He taught me about unconditional love, authenticity, immediacy and the power of caring for your friends and family. He would always talk about Connie every day he was here and you could see the love that reflected a soulmate connection that very few people ever come to discover. Yes, that is what I will always remember about this man—the deep and abiding love for his wife Connie that he wanted the world to know about. Mark–I miss your gentle spirit and life-force; you cared deeply and sincerely about anyone and everyone that crossed your path. Someone once said the shortest prayer is “Thank you”. So, I say to you my friend–Thank you for touching my life and reminding me to aspire to love well and live well. Your spirit is still with us in the foothills of Colorado and you will never be forgotten. Peace be with you.
I never had the privilege of meeting Mark, but I do know his remarkable wife, Connie. I met Connie through work many years ago. Since Mark became ill, we have stayed in contact. I am living with a cancer diagnosis myself, and Connie has been constant support and encouragement since the beginning. I have learned much about Mark over the past months and know that he was very much a Christ follower. I want Connie to know that she is an inspiration to me and I will continue to pray for her strength and peace in the days ahead. I am sure that Mark is smiling down on his beautiful wife in awe of her caregiving and strength she has shown. May God bless you and your family Connie.
I have known Mark from 1991. He helped me find the Lord and change my life. We became friends very quickly. I was at His and Connies wedding. What a loving woman he married. Mark has a gentelness and kindness that was with him anywhere he was. He also helped my family. He would stop in and visit my Mother once in a while as he had time. I have a fond memery of Mark from last spring when Mom and i took he and Connie a quart of fresh strawberrys.. I will miss him untill we meet again.
May our Lord Bless them both……….
What a very touching story, my thoughts are with his family and with you.
I have known Mark for a long time. He has been there for our family for many years. He was truly a blessing to be around. He was so compasionate and loving. He also would help you put things in the right persepctive. How important that is in life and life’s journey. I pray for Connie and his family as they are left without him and will need strength to continue forward. Mark married my mom and second dad just a few years ago. My dad passed away and God brought someone special to my mom. To have Mark there was very wonderful. Mark also baptized my parents. Mark made a difference in my life in so many ways. I will miss him very much. Thank you God for allowing me to know him.
It has been my privilege to know Mark and to share his special friendship for over 35 years. As young men we were able to share our deepest concerns with openess and honestly. I knew I could trust Mark to have my best interest at heart as he shared his insight with me and encouraged me toward growth and maturity in Christ. We expected the best from each other. now when I think of Mark it brings a smile not only to my face but also to my heart. I am thankful to God that Mark was such a good friend to me and that the loss I feel is lessoned by the memory of his love for Jesus and his love for others
Connie, You and Mark were such a blessing to our family. Inviting my mother, myself and my brother, Bob, to use the pontoon boat several times, etc. Thank you for sharing your husband with us in so many ways. Especially your e-mail notes which tore at my heart. As you may or may not remember, our son had cancer with not much hope given by the Drs. He is a 5ys survivor and now has a 6mo. old baby. The Lord’s presence and peace be with you in these days and in the difficult months ahead.
Dear Connie, I was so sorry to hear of the passing of your dear dear hubby. He was such a kind and gentle man who glowed with the spirituality of Jesus. I was sad to not be able to come and pay last respects to him as I was in Honduras, but rest assured that he was a part of my daily prayers. I know how much you must miss him now, but with your strong faith (an example to others) I know He will give you strength. Blessings to you and your family.
[…] were all married by the very dear Mark Klinepeter. This past January when we lost Mark, Lily saw this post I did in honor of him. She lives in Atlanta and has since kept in touch with my blog. She decided […]