Mark Krosch

At the time of his death, Mark was 96. He lived those years with courage, dignity, strength, and wit. He taught us by example that material things can come and go but to give generously of ones love and time. That is how he fulfilled what he considered his most important roles- those of father and grandfather. For many years, summer vacation at the farm meant going fishing or for tractor rides with GPop, eating apples he so precisely peeled, cored, and sliced or trying to decipher how it was possible for him to get all the aces when challenged to a game of rummy. Always he could be counted on to read or tell a goodnight story or recite from memory the poems of Kipling, Longfellow, Stevenson and others. In return he received undying respect, love, and loyalty. All of us gathered around him during his final weeks. Mark was born on November 13th, 1912 to John Henry and Bessie Adelia (Ripley) Krosch at their home near Elmore, Minnesota. He was pre-deceased by his parents, sisters Alice Farrow, Marjorie Dickman, and brothers Harold and John. His sister, Helen Farrow, of Spirit Lake, Iowa and sister-in-law Delores Farrow of Ledyard, Iowa survive. By the age of twenty, he had hitchhiked to California. He was to work at a variety of jobs during the Depression. His grandfather, W.B. Ripley, was a Union veteran of the Civil War and had instilled a love of country in his young grandson, so Mark was fulfilling established family precedent when he enlisted in the Army during World War II. He served with the Army Corps. Of Engineers Company C, 139th Airborne Engineering Battalion. He fought in the battles of Rhineland, Ardennes, and throughout Central Europe. After his discharge on October 26th, 1945 he settled for a time in Jerome, Arizona, where he worked for Phelps Dodge. After a determined courtship, he was married on October 21st, 1947 in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Erma Lillian Farrow. In January, 1949 they moved to Ledyard, Iowa, to run the family farm until March of 1953 when they moved to their own farm near Morris, Minnesota. Mark called that home for nearly 56 years. It was there they raised their four daughters who also survive: Lillian (Ram) Mittal, Leota (Greg) Brucker, Mary (Patrick) Rockhill, and Nola Krosch. They celebrated 54 years of marriage before Ermas death on January 22, 2002. Mark continued to spend his summers on the farm in the company of his children, grandchildren, and a retinue of their friends who had become like family to him. Until this year he had been able to winter in California. Although his health was declining, his grandchildren made it possible for him to spend one last summer at the farm. These grandchildren, Mark (Tiffany) Mittal, Monica (Daniel) Stanghelle and their son Erik, Adriana and Alarica Mittal, Kyle and Krista Brucker, Roland, Nadine, and Max Miller, and many nieces and nephews are also left to mourn his death. There is no more fitting epitaph for this good and gentle man than that which he spoke shortly before his death, Adieu, Adieu, kind friend, Adieu. We could have had no better father nor kinder friend. We shall cherish his memory. Our world was better for his presence in it. Vaya Con Dios