Birth date: Feb 13, 1959 Death date: Sep 27, 2020
Mark Crowell of Ashburn, Virginia, died at age 61, after waging a courageous 10-month battle with brain cancer. His beloved and devoted wife, Sheryl, cherished son, Mark, and dedicated sister, Carmen, were by his side. Mark is sur Read Obituary
I'm sure you made a lasting impression on those you met. You were one of my childhood best friends. I was in awe of you ability to draw. You could make dinosaurs come to life on paper. I never understood your fascination with dinosaurs. I should not be surprised with your field of study. I will never forget the many summers we spent playing wiffle ball in your back yard. (Over the roof was a home run :) ) You had this quiet yet confident way about you. You had a wonderful life that ended too soon. Your fascination with all things will live on with those left behind. You were a very special part of my childhood that will never be forgotten. Rest in peace my friend.
Mark A. Lusardi
My Uncle Mark was one of the kindest, funniest, and most interesting people I have ever met. Over the years, I have heard a lot of praise for his many attributes and talents. I wanted to take a minute to focus specifically on one: his excellent taste.
Growing up, I went over Uncle Mark’s house at least once a month. Uncle Mark would take each of these visits as an opportunity to teach me about music, movies, and food, three things for which he had enormous passion and in which he had exquisite taste. When I was 12 years old and growing out of teeny bopper music, I started to listen to the Beatles with my mom. I mentioned this to Uncle Mark and within the hour, he had burned me a mix CD with songs from all of his favorite bands from the 60s and 70s – the Grateful Dead, the Velvet Underground, Led Zeppelin, and many more. That CD changed my world! I listened to Uncle Mark’s mix CD constantly, and then eventually branched out to learn more about each of the bands on it. His excellent taste in music and his generous gesture of wanting to share it with me forever changed how I listened to music and what I listened to.
I also remember when, a few years later, I told Uncle Mark that I had never seen Blade Runner. Uncle Mark sought to remedy that right away! Even though we were in the middle of a family gathering, he sent me to the basement TV room to watch it and insisted I tell him what I thought when it was over. As a result of being exposed to movies like this by Uncle Mark, I am a SciFi fan to this day. More importantly, Uncle Mark’s enthusiasm for film taught me that movies could be more than just entertainment; they could be transcendental experiences.
Finally, food. Some people can’t eat food when it’s too spicy; I can’t eat food when it isn’t spicy enough! Uncle Mark played a key role in developing my appreciation for spice. With my mom, he cooked his way through several dozens of Thai and Indian cookbooks, in order learn the styles and perfect his favorite recipes. His approach was scholarly: he would make different versions of the same dish, testing each in order to determine which one was “the best.” He was always going to specialty stores to get the most exotic and authentic ingredients, and he was always excited to share a new chutney or chili pickle with me. I will miss having Uncle Mark as a comrade in the pursuit of enjoying all things spicy. I will especially miss cooking and eating with him at our Annual Indian Food Christmas dinner, an initiative started by Uncle Mark when he rightly decided, in my opinion, that traditional Christmas food was too bland. This has always been my favorite holiday event of the year. I wish I could have kept sharing Indian Food Christmas with Uncle Mark for years to come.
Uncle Mark, I am so sad that I will not be able to continue learning about music, movies, food, and other aspects of your exquisitely developed taste from you. I will also miss so much more about you, especially your humor, your kindness, your intelligence. Rest in peace. We love you.
Alexandra Brewer
Niece
Winston-Salem, NC
I will always remember how gentle and kind he was. And so funny! He had such a good sense of humor and his sarcasm would always make me laugh. I remember whenever we would visit him, he spent so much time with us, showing us his archaeology case, introducing us to his cats, playing with us outside and showing us great movies that he would hype up and get me all excited to see! Whenever I was going to see him or he was coming to see us, I would always be so excited.
He was such a great uncle and I wish I could’ve spent more time with him. He had so much love for his family. I loved his laugh. It was so kind and gentle, just like him. He was so smart and interesting to talk to – whenever we were on vacation, I would love to hear him talk about history, geology, or anything really. He was such an educated man. I can’t say enough good things about him. He was such an awesome uncle to me. I love you always, Uncle Mark.
Gregory Crowell
Nephew
Peddler Village, PA
As a child I enjoyed uncle Marks quirky sense of humor and his intense love for knowledge. My son Isaiah who is now 16 has always reminded me of him because he loves science! They didn’t know each other at all but when we saw him at Amanda and Amit’s wedding Isaiah really enjoyed talking with him. He was amazed at how smart he was and that he was a scientist:) That made me so happy! Uncle Mark has always seemed to me to be a man of intention. This is a quality to be envied
Lea Gelman
Niece
St. Joesph, MO
When I was a little girl, I thought my Uncle Mark was quite possibly THE coolest guy I knew. I mean, he was a scientist! He went on digs for dinosaur fossils! Whenever we visited him, he would take the time to show me each and every artifact he had on display. He took each piece out to let me touch them. He was so passionate about teaching me and I loved him for it. I would always brag to my friends that my uncle was an paleontologist.
He was also a very talented artist. During those visits, we would sit together, and he would draw me pictures of dinosaurs. I would watch in amazement at his ability to be able to draw these beautiful pictures purely from his memory. I still have some of his drawings – I remember one time he gave me a gift - it was a dinosaur book and on the back cover he drew a dinosaur for me because he knew how much I loved it.
Mark’s real job was a geologist for FEMA. Which I found to be just as interesting! I’d ask him about his job and he explained to me that he would have to travel and study coastal erosion and draw up maps according to his findings. These were the maps used by our government. He knew so much about the environment and how our earth is changing. You want to know about global warming? This. Was. Your. Man.
Another one of his passions was our family history. He took the time (years) to study and create our family tree. He made so many cool discoveries of our ancestors. And because of him, our family has this vast knowledge of our history. You know William Penn? He found out he is our relative! What an amazing thing he has done for us and all of our generations to follow.
As I got older and began exploring options in academics, I remember having many conversations with him about it. He was passionate about education and encouraged me to study science. He said I would never go wrong with it. And he was right.
Uncle Mark I’m still trying to process the fact that you’re not here with us anymore. And that you had to pass at this terrible time where visits weren’t a possibility. My heart breaks that I couldn’t say goodbye to you. Your memory will always be with me and the lessons you taught me were invaluable. We loved you so much, your quirkinesses, your gentle disposition, your passion for politics, and music and movies and cooking your Indian food.
Rest In Peace dear uncle. You’re loved by so many.
Amanda Crowell
Niece
Phoenixville, PA
When I think of my Uncle Mark, I remember him spontaneously drawing mazes for us to do when we were kids. And they were hard!
His love of cooking and sharing ethnic foods, especially Indian. It was always so delicious and he was always to excited to share it. He taught Mark Layfield and me how to cook a Thai pork and broccolini recipe last February. I had never cooked with him before and I hold that memory dear.
He was the first one to know that I was dating Josh! He was driving me to the airport after one of my visits with Grace and Alli and asked, “so, do you have a boyfriend?” We had a nice talk about it. He was encouraging and also very concerned for my happiness. There are some things I will always remember about Uncle Mark – that he was caring, giving, and genuine.
When he was dating Aunt Sheryl, the miracle of discovering that her house is only 3 minutes from where Grace and Alli were living. It was so fun to see them get to know Uncle Mark during our visits.
Watching him throw a frisbee with Dad, Uncle Frank, and Uncle Jim at the park. They were all so good at it!
He went to see Grace’s Veteran’s Day concert at school because I couldn’t make the trip and he FaceTimed the whole thing for me.
Melissa Gentzler
Niece
Leavenworth, KS
When I think of my Uncle Mark, many memories come to mind. I think of his love for his cats, and how he’d always have a sweet photo or funny video of them he couldn’t wait to share. His passion for movies—particularly Jurassic Park, and the hours I spent one afternoon as a kid watching the films with him and my parents and cousin Mark. The Alien series, too, although I never got around to watching those even after his plea to my parents that I wasn’t too young. How he adored the Beatles and was always up for re-watching their 1964 Ed Sullivan Show performance. His eagerness to cook Indian food for any occasion, even Thanksgiving, despite the occasional skeptic. The time he brought miracle berries—a fruit that makes sour foods taste sweet—to Aunt Carmen and Uncle Frank’s house and insisted we all eat one followed by a lemon slice so we could experience the phenomenon with him. How he was always so enthusiastic to share his latest gadget, that it was almost a guarantee a few family members were persuaded to buy one for themselves before the visit was through.
When I think of my Uncle Mark, I think of his laugh and smile and the delight he took in sharing the things he loved with the people he loved, and how truly lucky I was to catch glimpses of the world through his lens.
Taylor Hannan
Niece
Burlington VT
Peace, love, and prayers for Mark, Sheryl, and Mark's entire family.
I will miss him at the beach where we had memorable times together. He was a fine man -- very thoughtful and considerate. He will be missed by all. He was a great geologist -- very creative.
Love,
Paul Lyons (Sheryl Lyons Crowell's father)
My favorite memories are those playing the “Whist” card game with Mark. He loved the strategy involved in the game and from the time he learned how to play, he was always interested in learning more from those who were more experienced. I loved how he was always excited about getting together to play cards with our large family. He had a playful nature, a love for games, and I loved that about him.
I remember earlier this year telling my sister (Sheryl Crowell) how excited I was about a new game called “Catan” I had learned from my sister Sandra – and hoped that they (Mark and Sheryl) would want to learn how to play when they came to visit. She responded by texting me a picture of Mark’s vast Catan game collection. I was stunned because it is not a game everyone has heard about but for certain, it made sense that a true gamer like Mark would not already know about the game … but also have practically every variation of the game that existed!
Mark was a gentle and kind soul. He had a great sense of humor. He was easy going and so easy to love. The love between Mark Crowell and Sheryl Crowell is real, pure, and everlasting. It is God-given and the love lives on. May we all be so blessed with such precious, undying love. Mark, I know you will be Sheryl’s very own angel watching over her from Heaven. May you send us all gentle and comforting reminders that your spirit is alive and well. Peace be with you. God bless you. We miss you.
Love and prayers,
Crystal Lyons
