On the banks of the South Fork River, among the rural farmlands of the Allegheny Mountains in West Virginia, a small white farmhouse quietly rests, effortlessly nestled between a patchwork of open fields and steep woods. From the road, there is little to suggest that the farmstead on which this house sits holds any special meaning. But dig a little deeper, and you will discover a haven crafted by a man with a dream of returning this small corner of West Virginia back to as nature intended. The drive and passion of Mark Mueller to create such a sanctuary was typical of someone who instinctively created communities when none existed, who gave of himself to those in need, and who in turn received love from all those that he knew.

Mark was born in 1967 in Random Lake, Wisconsin, the youngest of seven children to Harold and Joyce Mueller. From the earliest age, "Mawkie" was outgoing, thriving in the attention that being the youngest affords, and it was therefore unsurprising that a happy family childhood in Wisconsin surrounded by parties and music would lead to a lifelong interest in performance art and music. Thereafter, Mark's love of the arts and his extensive taste in music grew at high school, and he embraced these and many other facets of school life, including partaking in the school's student council, as well as cross country, basketball, baseball, soccer, track, drama, band, and forensics.

Mark's journey after graduating high school in 1985 might then be considered as atypical by most, but arguably was typical of Mark. A couple of years at UWM spent working out what he needed from life was followed by journeys in Europe where Mark tried his hand at modeling and began making communities of friends. Thereafter, Hollywood called, and Mark journeyed to California in search of acting stardom. After several years of striving for a breakout role, Mark decided on a new career and enrolled at Evergreen College in WA in 1993 to study for a degree in Environmental Science. Several blissfully happy years followed studying bacteriophage viruses, before Mark's diverse career saw him recruited to DC, Amsterdam and back to DC again where, among his many roles, Mark worked in scientific planning and development for the NIH/NIAD Division of AIDS Research, was a health specialist at NIH Vaccine Research Center and a member of the Covid Pandemic Preparedness Task Force.

For Mark, having a home in DC that allowed him to reflect himself through his eclectic taste in furnishing and art was an important consideration, and therefore no one was surprised when, after several contented years living among friends on U Street, he purchased and renovated a beautiful Victorian town house in Bloomingdale to his own style. At the same time, Mark recognized that a role in local politics would allow him to benefit his local community, and his year in 2009 as a Commissioner serving DC District 5 ANC representing 5E08 continues to be reflected in the historical landmarks and local parks that he saved, and the architecture that he preserved. But while town life gave Mark the foundation for a valuable career and community leadership, there remained a lifelong need for balance with the countryside. Thus, when Mark, along with his friends Avery Ouellette and Dan Glasson, happened upon a 330 acre farmstead for sale in West Virginia, recognizing the potential and beauty of the land and its buildings, in December 2017 they quickly snapped it up, renaming it OMG Acres. Further to his beautiful farmhouse, Mark found solace in working the land he so loved, helping renovate a beautiful log cabin, barn, and civil war era chapel that sit close by on the riverbank.

In the early days of 2020, just as Covid was in its infancy, Mark received the devastating diagnosis of Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer. Recovering from the shock of this news, Mark quickly determined to mount a fight, and his resolve consequently took him across the USA, from DC to Texas, to California, and back again. While he fought bravely and refused to be intimidated by the ever increasing challenges that the progression of his cancer put on him, in the end the pain simply became too much. And so, in mid-November 2022, Mark made the bravest decision of all. On a bright, sunny Saturday afternoon in his beautiful home in Bloomingdale, Mark slipped peacefully away, enveloped in the love of his family and many friends.

Mark was many things to many people. To most, he was the ultimate uniter and creator of community. As one friend observed, "If you put Mark on a solitary mountaintop and came back a month later, he'd be the mayor of a village that's gathered around him." And it was therefore unsurprising that he took his duty of cross-pollinating relationships across all of the villages that he loved. Simply put, he delighted in bringing different villagers together, routinely gliding past any obstacles to forge new friendships. And in this role, Mark, like any good community mayor, was delightfully opinionated. His views, and there were many, were largely definitive and inerrant, be they on the right paint for your home, the correct way to mix a W Street Mark-hattan, the proper way to plant a sapling, or even the choice of which song to belt out during karaoke. Some might have seen his strength of opinion as stubbornness, but to know Mark was to know that it was not so much stubbornness as a deep desire for others to benefit from his unique insight. And this individuality of vision, united with wanting others to appreciate the natural energy of life coursing however it does, remained the strongest driver throughout Mark's life. Where one might see just an old building that looked ratty and needed to be knocked down, Mark saw, as he looked on it in the morning's light, the silhouette of weathered wood against an autumn backdrop, the contrast between light and dark inducing rapture of the senses or a calm that left one at peace. Where one would see an unruly bush in the middle of nothing, he saw its purple blossoms in the springtime and its fiery red leaves in the autumn.

Away from his opinions on anything and everything, Mark's persona was characterized by the eclectic nature of the many friends that he made throughout his life. How can one capture so many different relationships, with so many different people, that accurately reflects the singularity of one man? Perhaps it is simply that - the many friends that he leaves behind - that gives us the greatest insight into what made Mark the man he was. His willingness to accept anyone into his community was a constant, but once accepted, you had to be ready to step up and, in no uncertain terms, abide by his rules, the most important being: be yourself. If you could share of yourself openly, and honestly, then you were guaranteed of having the favor returned tenfold. After that, the only requirement was for you to be present in the moment, to bring your raw, natural energy, and to be open to the experience and the adventures that community membership entailed. A communion in which everyone was protected, with Mark at the center, receiving everyone, challenging everyone, and loving everyone.

And so to Mark's legacy. On what grounds will Mark's memory be taken forward in a way that captures the essence of this creative, witty, passionate, sarcastic, original, sensitive, handsome man? One of his finest legacies is The Mark Mueller conservation, set up on his birthday in April 2022, to support conservation projects in Sweedlin Valley, West Virginia. Its aim is to protect, preserve, and expand the land and its wildlife so that it evolves as a place supporting healthy ecosystems, forest land, biodiversity, and wildlife habitat. But it's not solely the land of West Virginia that will benefit from Mark's generosity. As he fought against his insidious disease, Mark partook in multiple clinical trials in the search for a release from his cancer. Aside from his yearning to be cancer-free, time will undoubtedly confirm Mark's decision to commute his body for clinical research in the hope that his battle brings respite for those who suffer.

While we are heartbroken that Mark is no longer with us, we know that our lives were made fuller because he was with us at all. And thus, as we grieve, our hearts will long stay full of joy for having known Mark, and while we cry knowing he is now gone, we will smile tomorrow when we remember that he lived among us for so long.

Thank you Mark, you beautiful boy, for loving us, and for letting us love you back.

With love from us all.

Mark Mueller

April 22 ^nd 1967 – November 19 ^th 2022

If you wish to remember Mark, it was his wish that, in lieu of flowers at his funeral, that donations be made to his conservation fund, details of which can be found at:

https://www.wvlandtrust.org/mueller/