Donna Mark

Donna Mark, age 89 years, formerly of Buchanan, Michigan died peacefully at 9:04 p.m. on Monday, July 25, 2016 with family members gathered around her bedside at The Hearth at Juday Creek in Granger, Indiana following a brief illness.

She was born on June 1, 1927 in Saint Paul, Minnesota to Frank and Rose (Schneider) Tiemann, and was graduated in 1945 from Mary E. McCahill Institute in Lake City, Minnesota. She began her college studies at the University of Minnesota, and earned a Bachelor’s degree from Indiana University at South Bend after moving to this area in 1961. She owned and operated Mardona’s String of Pearls at the Thieves’ Market Mall in South Bend, Indiana.

Donna was a member of the Saint Joseph Catholic Church in South Bend; the Cardinal Newman Society for Catholic Education, which she served as the National Recording Secretary; and founded a parents’ association for the hearing impaired community in South Bend. In Niles, she had been a member of Saint Mark Catholic Church. She was certified through the Gemological Institute of America, had studied the genealogy of her family, and had studied the history of the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi Indian Nation – donating her work to the Band. She enjoyed knitting and crochet, keeping up with current events, and – most importantly – caring for her family.

On April 26, 1952 in Newark, New Jersey she married Edward H. Mark whose partnership in parenting ten children was strong and devoted. One evidence of his affection was the beautiful chapel he built for her in the woods behind their home on the Saint Joseph River. They had celebrated the fifty-fifth anniversary of their wedding prior to his death on April 23, 2008. She was also preceded in death by their son, Steve Mark on November 13, 2010.

Surviving family includes their children, Catherine (& Alfredo Toraño) Mark of Spain, Mary Mark-Herbach and Louis Mark, both of Michigan, Julia Mark of Colorado, John (& Vera) Mark of Illinois, Karen Mark of Indiana, Daniel (& Carole) Mark of Wyoming, Jacob (& Jill) Mark of Indiana, and Thomas Mark of Montana; grandchildren Raquel, Francisco, Michael, Layne, Elias, Angelina, Sarah, Sophia, and Samuel; and Donna’s brothers, Robert Tiemann of California and Sidney (& Louise) Tiemann of Illinois; and several nieces and nephews.

The Mass of Christian Burial for Donna Mark will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 30, 2016 at Saint Mary Catholic Church in Niles by the Rev. Kevin Russeau, C.S.C. of Saint Joseph Catholic Church in South Bend. Committal Rites will follow at the Silverbrook Cemetery in Niles.

The family will receive relatives and friends from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. on Friday at the Halbritter Funeral Home in Niles. Contributions in memory of Donna Mark may be made to the Alzheimer’s & Dementia Services of Northern Indiana, 922 East Colfax Avenue, South Bend, Indiana 46617.