Suggested edit: My Eulogy for Robert Mark Smith
Greenhaven Preserve
August 23, 2015
I have had the pleasure of knowing Mark Smith for the past 34 years. When I first met him in what's now "Stronghold Fitness" on Huger Street, in the spring of 1981, Mark was wearing an athletic T-shirt with either Thomas Sumter or Sumter High on it. Since I was from Manning, we struck a conversation. He implied he was an athlete, and I believed that part. But when he told me his name was "Mark Smith," I thought his name sounded fake, like a name you would give to someone you met in a bar. So basically, I believed the part that wasn't true, him being an athlete, but didn't believe the true part, his name.
We've had so many adventures since then. On trips out of town, we would both think up a "fake" name to use just for fun on the trip if we met folks -- and Mark ALWAYS met folk because he was friendly and fun. He almost always used the name BROCK WINCHESTER. It was a manly name. The kind of name a cowboy would have, and he liked it. I won't tell you mine because I may still have to use it sometime.
Mark had a great sense of humor and easy to get along with. Even just having a dinner and movie night in. A simple night with Mark was always a fun night.
One time, when we went to the State Fair, he used an ink pen to write "LOVE" and "HATE" on his knuckles. (I think the movie was "The Night of the Hunter.") He would wipe it off to make it look like a faded tattoo. He said he wanted to look like a carny that worked at the fair. Again, just a crazy sense of humor and always looking to have fun.
And Mark could make anything beautiful. He was a visual merchandiser for Fine's, J.B. White and Belk. He could make anything pretty. He could dress up a mailbox and make it the best mailbox on the block. My grandmother, the first time she saw his house, she asked who decorated it because it had a "woman's touch." You know how much I enjoyed teasing him about that. And we all teased him about decorating it in "discarded Belk displays!" But, kid as we may, he kept a lovely house.
Mark and I loved to play jokes on one another. Once, when I was watching his house when he was out of town, I found an old toilet and put it in his front yard and filled the bowl with artificial flowers. Mark was getting phone messages from neighbors saying how wonderful his yard looked. He was wondering what the landscaper had done and, needless to say, he was disappointed when he got home and found out it was just a practical joke.
Mark and I both loved to see who could out "thrifty" one another. We would go to the movies or dinner and it never failed, one of us would pull out a coupon to save more money than the other. But I'm going to have the last laugh here, because I'm going to ask Barbara if I can share his Greenhaven Preserve plot when I die -- so I either get it for half price, or better yet, free!
But seriously, I loved Mark -- my oldest and best friend forever. Most of the good times in my life, Mark was there. I will miss him so much. I know I will think of my friend, Brock Winchester, every single day.
Per = Contributor: Rob Thompson
Greenhaven Preserve
August 23, 2015
I have had the pleasure of knowing Mark Smith for the past 34 years. When I first met him in what's now "Stronghold Fitness" on Huger Street, in the spring of 1981, Mark was wearing an athletic T-shirt with either Thomas Sumter or Sumter High on it. Since I was from Manning, we struck a conversation. He implied he was an athlete, and I believed that part. But when he told me his name was "Mark Smith," I thought his name sounded fake, like a name you would give to someone you met in a bar. So basically, I believed the part that wasn't true, him being an athlete, but didn't believe the true part, his name.
We've had so many adventures since then. On trips out of town, we would both think up a "fake" name to use just for fun on the trip if we met folks -- and Mark ALWAYS met folk because he was friendly and fun. He almost always used the name BROCK WINCHESTER. It was a manly name. The kind of name a cowboy would have, and he liked it. I won't tell you mine because I may still have to use it sometime.
Mark had a great sense of humor and easy to get along with. Even just having a dinner and movie night in. A simple night with Mark was always a fun night.
One time, when we went to the State Fair, he used an ink pen to write "LOVE" and "HATE" on his knuckles. (I think the movie was "The Night of the Hunter.") He would wipe it off to make it look like a faded tattoo. He said he wanted to look like a carny that worked at the fair. Again, just a crazy sense of humor and always looking to have fun.
And Mark could make anything beautiful. He was a visual merchandiser for Fine's, J.B. White and Belk. He could make anything pretty. He could dress up a mailbox and make it the best mailbox on the block. My grandmother, the first time she saw his house, she asked who decorated it because it had a "woman's touch." You know how much I enjoyed teasing him about that. And we all teased him about decorating it in "discarded Belk displays!" But, kid as we may, he kept a lovely house.
Mark and I loved to play jokes on one another. Once, when I was watching his house when he was out of town, I found an old toilet and put it in his front yard and filled the bowl with artificial flowers. Mark was getting phone messages from neighbors saying how wonderful his yard looked. He was wondering what the landscaper had done and, needless to say, he was disappointed when he got home and found out it was just a practical joke.
Mark and I both loved to see who could out "thrifty" one another. We would go to the movies or dinner and it never failed, one of us would pull out a coupon to save more money than the other. But I'm going to have the last laugh here, because I'm going to ask Barbara if I can share his Greenhaven Preserve plot when I die -- so I either get it for half price, or better yet, free!
But seriously, I loved Mark -- my oldest and best friend forever. Most of the good times in my life, Mark was there. I will miss him so much. I know I will think of my friend, Brock Winchester, every single day.
Per = Contributor: Rob Thompson
Suggested edit: My Eulogy for Robert Mark Smith
Greenhaven Preserve
August 23, 2015
I have had the pleasure of knowing Mark Smith for the past 34 years. When I first met him in what's now "Stronghold Fitness" on Huger Street, in the spring of 1981, Mark was wearing an athletic T-shirt with either Thomas Sumter or Sumter High on it. Since I was from Manning, we struck a conversation. He implied he was an athlete, and I believed that part. But when he told me his name was "Mark Smith," I thought his name sounded fake, like a name you would give to someone you met in a bar. So basically, I believed the part that wasn't true, him being an athlete, but didn't believe the true part, his name.
We've had so many adventures since then. On trips out of town, we would both think up a "fake" name to use just for fun on the trip if we met folks -- and Mark ALWAYS met folk because he was friendly and fun. He almost always used the name BROCK WINCHESTER. It was a manly name. The kind of name a cowboy would have, and he liked it. I won't tell you mine because I may still have to use it sometime.
Mark had a great sense of humor and easy to get along with. Even just having a dinner and movie night in. A simple night with Mark was always a fun night.
One time, when we went to the State Fair, he used an ink pen to write "LOVE" and "HATE" on his knuckles. (I think the movie was "The Night of the Hunter.") He would wipe it off to make it look like a faded tattoo. He said he wanted to look like a carny that worked at the fair. Again, just a crazy sense of humor and always looking to have fun.
And Mark could make anything beautiful. He was a visual merchandiser for Fine's, J.B. White and Belk. He could make anything pretty. He could dress up a mailbox and make it the best mailbox on the block. My grandmother, the first time she saw his house, she asked who decorated it because it had a "woman's touch." You know how much I enjoyed teasing him about that. And we all teased him about decorating it in "discarded Belk displays!" But, kid as we may, he kept a lovely house.
Mark and I loved to play jokes on one another. Once, when I was watching his house when he was out of town, I found an old toilet and put it in his front yard and filled the bowl with artificial flowers. Mark was getting phone messages from neighbors saying how wonderful his yard looked. He was wondering what the landscaper had done and, needless to say, he was disappointed when he got home and found out it was just a practical joke.
Mark and I both loved to see who could out "thrifty" one another. We would go to the movies or dinner and it never failed, one of us would pull out a coupon to save more money than the other. But I'm going to have the last laugh here, because I'm going to ask Barbara if I can share his Greenhaven Preserve plot when I die -- so I either get it for half price, or better yet, free!
But seriously, I loved Mark -- my oldest and best friend forever. Most of the good times in my life, Mark was there. I will miss him so much. I know I will think of my friend, Brock Winchester, every single day.
Per = Contributor: Rob Thompson
Greenhaven Preserve
August 23, 2015
I have had the pleasure of knowing Mark Smith for the past 34 years. When I first met him in what's now "Stronghold Fitness" on Huger Street, in the spring of 1981, Mark was wearing an athletic T-shirt with either Thomas Sumter or Sumter High on it. Since I was from Manning, we struck a conversation. He implied he was an athlete, and I believed that part. But when he told me his name was "Mark Smith," I thought his name sounded fake, like a name you would give to someone you met in a bar. So basically, I believed the part that wasn't true, him being an athlete, but didn't believe the true part, his name.
We've had so many adventures since then. On trips out of town, we would both think up a "fake" name to use just for fun on the trip if we met folks -- and Mark ALWAYS met folk because he was friendly and fun. He almost always used the name BROCK WINCHESTER. It was a manly name. The kind of name a cowboy would have, and he liked it. I won't tell you mine because I may still have to use it sometime.
Mark had a great sense of humor and easy to get along with. Even just having a dinner and movie night in. A simple night with Mark was always a fun night.
One time, when we went to the State Fair, he used an ink pen to write "LOVE" and "HATE" on his knuckles. (I think the movie was "The Night of the Hunter.") He would wipe it off to make it look like a faded tattoo. He said he wanted to look like a carny that worked at the fair. Again, just a crazy sense of humor and always looking to have fun.
And Mark could make anything beautiful. He was a visual merchandiser for Fine's, J.B. White and Belk. He could make anything pretty. He could dress up a mailbox and make it the best mailbox on the block. My grandmother, the first time she saw his house, she asked who decorated it because it had a "woman's touch." You know how much I enjoyed teasing him about that. And we all teased him about decorating it in "discarded Belk displays!" But, kid as we may, he kept a lovely house.
Mark and I loved to play jokes on one another. Once, when I was watching his house when he was out of town, I found an old toilet and put it in his front yard and filled the bowl with artificial flowers. Mark was getting phone messages from neighbors saying how wonderful his yard looked. He was wondering what the landscaper had done and, needless to say, he was disappointed when he got home and found out it was just a practical joke.
Mark and I both loved to see who could out "thrifty" one another. We would go to the movies or dinner and it never failed, one of us would pull out a coupon to save more money than the other. But I'm going to have the last laugh here, because I'm going to ask Barbara if I can share his Greenhaven Preserve plot when I die -- so I either get it for half price, or better yet, free!
But seriously, I loved Mark -- my oldest and best friend forever. Most of the good times in my life, Mark was there. I will miss him so much. I know I will think of my friend, Brock Winchester, every single day.
Per = Contributor: Rob Thompson
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