Funeral Notices

A gentle, funny man and a great friend to the Smith family.
We will cherish the memories of our great times together.
Our hearts go out to Glynis and the family for their sad loss.

Glynis, Geoff, Keefer, Amelia, and family,

We are saddened by the news of Mark’s passing. He was an exceptional colleague, mentor and certainly a friend of we MARS associates who were privileged to know, work with, and learn from. His style was unique and memorable, and you were always better for the experience.
I met Mark in 1990 in our roles representing geographic regions for safety and environment. Upon first meeting Mark he immediately made me feel welcomed and vital. He did so with
his great style and grace, always with a bit of his incredible wit.

He had an almost insatiable desire to learn and witness everything he could about everyone he encountered, with all of those experiences ending in a really good laugh.

While there are many, I wanted to share the most interesting taxi ride of my life. Mark was in the USA, and since I’m a New Yorker he enjoyed experiencing the City from a local’s point of view. One evening we decided to take a taxi to a restaurant. We were lucky enough to have one of those quintessential TV taxi drivers, a complete loon which Mark engaged and cajoled for the entire ride. Admittedly, Mark had me on the edge of my seat at times, but by the end of that ride we were all laughing and feeling great for the experience.
He also wanted to experience a typical US family dinner. I was single at the time, so it was a call to mom.
We had a really enjoyable time, one which my parents spoke about for years. Mark left an impression with everyone, and I am grateful for having had the opportunity to know, learn and certainly laugh with him.
Godspeed, dear friend!
Until the next phase…

Tom Terracino

It has taken me some time to come to terms with Marks passing. Its still really difficult to believe that he won’t be on the phone to suggest some mischief I could get up to.

I firstly want to express my sincere condolences to Glenyse and his children who he was incredibly proud of. I used to love watching Glenyse roll her eyes always with a big smile on her face when Mark was on a roll.

Having worked with Mark at both Mars and Uncle Tobys I have so many fun memories. Sometimes when we worked at Mars, Mark, Matt and I would have so much fun we would be in tears with laughter.

We had our own set if mispronounced words that we loved to say when people come to our desk area – filum, hostiple, head honcko, the list was endless!

We would often walk to a meeting room and he’d say we’ve booked it, everyone would get up and leave – Mark never booked a room at all – by the time they realised it was often too late!

We used to ring a guy in the offices phone every time he left his desk and hang up when he walked back to answer it! 😂

He loved mischief and he had quirky ideas! I always used to liken him to a mad scientist because he was such a lateral thinker and come up with some brilliant (and bizarre) thoughts. He was incredibly intelligent and an amazing thinker not one day at work was the same.

I first started working as a temp only meant to stay two weeks, the agency told me the guy I was going to work for was not a very good communicator and had been through a number of temps. I had no problems maybe because I too was quirky and had no problems distinguishing between serious and mischievous Mark.
His desk was always chaos until I stopped letting him print anything and bought a filing cabinet which I guarded with my life!!!

When things at work got serious and there were so many instances, it was like a switch flipped. He would immediately take action, when the Mars plane went down we worked on the aftermath of that for months it was an incredible learning experience for me and one I will always remember. The way he was able to pull resources together, his interaction with the ATSB, and watching him with his hand on his forward knowing his brain was going one hundred miles an hour and him working through his thoughts. How we magically made a manual of significant volume to manage ongoing flight safety requirements.

Mark was a great boss and championed me not only at Mars but also at Tobys recommending me to the HR manager.

When I became unwell Mark would ring and make suggestions about things I could do to keep myself busy, they were not so pc but incredibly funny.

Mark was someone I have held in high esteem from very early on in our friendship. He was a great mentor, boss and dear dear friend. Although we didn’t get to see each other a lot, it was a comfort to know that he was only a phone call away and there was always a guarantee of a good laugh.

To Mark thank you for being you, my life has been definitely richer for having you in it, I know you will be keeping an eye on things from where ever you are.

PS. I hope you have your bible with you

Sending my best wishes and heartfelt condolences to Glynis and all Mark’s family and friends. I had the greatest of pleasures working with Mark at Nestle around 9 years ago. Mark took me under his wing and he was so supportive of everyone in our team leadership group. He taught me well and one of my best memories when were both investigating an incident one time and he taught a factory manager that it was better to be a coward around machinery, rather than end up losing their fingers. Suffice to say that the manager quickly turned the machine off before showing us what happened. That was Mark, he had the knack of making us all smile often and I am so glad we crossed paths back then. ‘Right ho’ let’s get it done and get it done we did most often. He was a kind hearted and funny fella and I wish you all much comfort in celebrating his life, even though I am sure he will be much missed by you all. Kindest Regards David & Nancy Raynor

Glynis, Geoffrey, Keegan & Amelia I’m sorry for your loss. I was my privilige to have shared friendship, comical moments and trusted co-work with Mark. May God care for him and bless you all. With sympathy, Rod Guy

Glynis

Sorry for your loss we will be thinking of you and your family and the trouble he is causing Up stairs .

Dear Glynis and family,
Mark was such a huge presence in my time at Mars (and beyond). I started at Mars as a teenager and one of the first pieces of advice I was given by an experienced secretary was ‘you need to learn to say NO to impossible requests from Mark McCormack”. I still remember Mark’s face the first time that I told him exactly that! Mark always pushed me to do my best and I learnt so much from his work ethic and uncompromising drive. Working with him in response to 9/11 really highlighted his dedication to the people he was responsible for, in Wodonga and beyond. He had a genuine passion in providing people with a safe, secure place of work, and he did what was needed to achieve that, regardless of whether people agreed with him or not!
Lunch times were always fun. Mark would choose an unsuspecting victim and spend the next 30 minutes antagonising the person with a ridiculous stance or set of questions designed to poke, and prod, and push buttons that ought not be pushed! Needless to say we didn’t often have lunch with the same person twice! I was always in awe of his sense of humour and his intellect, and although we disagreed on many things (politics included) Mark was always respected those differences.
Mark kept in touch with me over the years since I left Mars and I have appreciated his friendship all this time. Mark was an exceptional person and will be sorely missed. But always fondly remembered (with more than a touch of exasperation!)
My love,
Sharon