Dad's Life Story

These are the words I read at Dad's Celebration of Life, Feb. 24, 2018:

Mark Allen McKee was born April 10, 1954, at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkley, Calif., to John and Betty McKee. The family lived in Kirkland, Wash., where John worked as a flight engineer for Pan American Airways. John flew internationally for work, and Betty stayed with her parents in Berkley in the weeks before Mark was born.

He joined sister Pat, 9, brother John Jr., 7, and sister Cynthia, 4.

After four years, a job transfer to San Francisco Airport moved the family to Alamo, Calif.

Dad had fond memories of summers with his grandparents, Fred and Helen Fellow, in nearby Berkley. Fishing with Grandpa and watching baseball on TV with Grandma were favorite activities. Dad loved to travel on his father’s flights, flying around the world on 747s. He spoke fondly of the attention from the flight attendants – and all the free ginger ale! 

Dad graduated from San Ramon Valley High School in 1972 and then went on to George Fox College in Newberg, Ore. He studied business and economics and was a teaching assistant to computer professor, Dr. Remple, where he learned several computer programming languages.

Meantime, Dad’s family moved to Villa Park, Calif., near Disneyland. Dad worked at the Happiest Place on Earth during breaks from college, cleaning the park in the overnight hours.

He said they never turned off the music in the Enchanted Tiki Room, one of his cleaning assignments. For many years, he wouldn’t step foot into that attraction! 

Dad enjoyed pranking. During his sophomore year, Dad, Meyer Louie, and others, spent a night checking for unlocked cars in the Pennington dorm parking lot.

They rolled nine cars down the fire lane and into the canyon. Police arrived and thought it was a good prank. The guys were told to stop and there would be no repercussions unless someone complained. But one car owner “whined to his father”, who called GFC to complain. Dad and the others were suspended for the remainder of the week: midterms!

They had to leave campus, but home was too far to travel.  The parents of friend Jeff Rickey took pity on the boys, insisting that they stay at their house. They all ate pork chops for dinner, stretching it enough for everyone to have their fill.

During his junior year, a Newberg girl, Kati Fantz, started hanging around campus to see her friends. Mom was visiting in the Pennington dorm lobby when Dad came through after tennis class. As the group chatted, Dad mentioned his father’s Porsche, piquing Mom’s interest. Mom, still a senior in high school, looked older, and Dad thought she was a college student.

Later that week, a mutual friend told Mom that Dad was interested in going out. She also told Dad that Mom was interested in going out, though neither had actually said that! The two went bowling in McMinnville, and they were inseparable from that point on!

Mom graduated early from Newberg High and began attending GFC in spring 1975. The couple got engaged shortly after and was married that summer – about 10 months after meeting. Dad wore a powder-blue tuxedo with ruffled shirt, the height of ‘70s fashion!

Their first daughter, Elizabeth Ruth, was born the following June, and Dad took a variety of jobs to provide for his young family. Their second daughter, Eryn Lynn, was born two years later in May, 1978.

Dad was doing custodial maintenance when a job opened in the Tigard school district. Dad worked as the head night custodian at Mary Woodward Elementary School for many years while Mom returned to school to become a teacher. Dad was home during the day with the girls, preparing lunches and fixing ponytails, and Mom was home in the evenings. Dad loved working with the school children at Mary Woodward, including playing with the chess club. 

The family took many trips to Disneyland to visit Dad’s parents, starting a lifelong love of Mickey Mouse for his girls.

Many special occasions, including birthdays and anniversaries, were spent at Disneyland. Summers also included lots of camping trips and church- and city-league softball.

Wanting to get away from working nights, Dad began a 30-year career in warehouse/distribution. His last assignment was 10+ years at Medical Teams International, where he was so proud to be shipping medical equipment to those in need around the world.

Dad retired when MTI went through reorganization, allowing time for him to care for his elderly parents who had moved to Friendsview Retirement Community in Newberg. He was happy to connect with his father after a distant childhood.

Dad loved watching sports, especially his beloved San Francisco Giants and 49ers. He and Mom had a goal of visiting every Major League Baseball stadium and frequently traveled with their daughters on summer baseball trips. They only missed a few cities.

Dad had a propensity for numbers and puzzles, and he collected jigsaw puzzles from his world travels. (ERYN got those puzzle genes – I did not!) He enjoyed Sudoku and frequently impressed his daughters by doing math in his head. He also loved playing games, usually beating everyone else in the family.

Growing up flying around the world, Dad loved traveling, especially air travel. And it wasn’t just about the destination but also the journey. Dad would purposely choose flights with multiple stops – to save a buck but also so he could get more takeoffs and landings.

Sometimes he would meet the family after taking several flights around the country while the family flew straight there. He collected Pan Am memorabilia and could name plane models as they flew overhead.

Dad loved eating, especially sweets: chocolate, cookies, black licorice ice cream, milkshakes, root beer floats, angel food cake. But he wasn’t very adventurous, often ordering his standards: cheese-and-onion enchiladas (double rice, no beans) or ham-and-cheese omelets (with hashbrowns and English muffin).

He didn’t like most vegetables – especially tomatoes! His drink of choice was brewed iced tea (not sweet tea) or orange juice.

Dad enjoyed shopping and gift-giving. It was all about making other people happy. Holidays were special, as he loved the decorations, traditions, music, and happy times. He humored his daughters every year by getting up at 4 a.m. for Black Friday shopping.

The day always included Christmas tree headbands and a top-of-the-lungs Bing Crosby singalong in the car.

Dad was handy and mechanical, always taking on projects around the house, yard, and garage.

When Dad and Mom built their home in Tigard, he installed all the plumbing and electrical systems himself. In recent years, they bought a duplex in Newberg, and Dad managed the income property. He loved working with his hands and enjoyed using his gifts to assist friends, family, and co-workers. This extended to our Tigard High School family. Dad was a familiar face at Tigard High, assisting Eryn in the library, fixing things in my alternative-ed kitchen, and helping Mom with classroom and band projects...

...from repairing instruments to building props to moving equipment to driving the truck to helping students with rides home. His help was invaluable.

He just liked helping people. If anyone needed a hand, Dad was there.

Above all, Dad loved his family. He would do anything for Mom and his girls.

His favorite times were spent playing cards, watching movies, traveling to Disneyland, quoting National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, hiking and biking, and just being with family.

That included his four-legged family. Dad was a super-softy when it came to his kitties.

Mark died Feb. 12, 2018, at age 63.