My Beloved: Mark Edward Gresham, August 24, 1941 - August 2, 2024

Mark Gresham, May 29, 1981

Budget Director, City of Corpus Christi, Texas

photo by Sammy Gold of Gold's Studio

Mark Edward Gresham, of Granbury, Texas, died Friday, August 2, 2024, in Fort Worth, Texas, just three weeks shy of his 83rd birthday.  Mark was born on August 24, 1941, in San Antonio, Texas, the oldest child and only son of Francis Edward Gresham and Jewel Moore Gresham.

As a result of his father's Navy service and civilian military defense work, Mark spent his early years in Corpus Christi, Texas; Suitland, Maryland, near Washington, D.C.; and the Myrtle Grove area of Pensacola, Florida.  In 1954, his family moved to Guam, where Mark was a Boy Scout.  He graduated from George Washington High School in 1959 and attended the Territorial College of Guam the next year.  In 1964, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University), majoring in political science, government, and public administration, and minoring in sociology and Spanish.  He completed all requirements except the thesis for a Master of Arts in public administration at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas).

While in graduate school, Mark began his career in Texas city management.  From 1965 to 1969, he served as administrative assistant to the city manager in Garland, including one year as acting city secretary.  He was city manager of Terrell from 1969 to 1971 and of San Marcos from 1971 to 1973.  He was the budget director for the City of Corpus Christi from 1974 to 1985, and senior deputy city manager in Grand Prairie from 1985 to his retirement in 1993.  He spent the next twelve years in California, where he served on the Orange County Grand Jury.  In 2005, he moved back to Texas, settling in Granbury.

Mark was an active member of the Texas City Management Association, the Texas Municipal League, the International City/County Management Association, and the Government (formerly Municipal) Finance Officers Association.  Mark also taught courses in public administration, local government financial management, and urban economics at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi.  

In retirement, Mark was a member of the Grand Jurors' Association of Orange County, and served as vice-chairman of the Charter Review Commission for the City of Granbury in 2018.  He volunteered as a shipbuilder with the Twin Brigantine Project of the Los Angeles Maritime Institute.  He also volunteered with the Friends of the Library of Hood County, building a sales countertop for their store and auditing their financial records.

In his free time, Mark was passionate about sailing.  From 1978 to 2002, he co-owned a 22-foot Catalina (The Wagon) and (from 1981) solo-owned a 27-foot Pearson (Contagious, also known as Contigo), both in the Corpus Christi Marina.  He was an avid photographer who set up his own black-and-white darkroom in his homes.  He also enjoyed fishing, reading, cooking, gardening, dining out, playing the guitar, and listening to music.

Mark is survived by the love of his life, his wife of 18 (and friend of 45) years, Amanda Pape; and by his two younger sisters, Ann Gresham (Michael) Beug of Husum, Washington, and June Gresham (Gregory) Crane of Red Hook, New York.  He has three children, Kim Gresham (Mike) Williams of McKinney, Texas, Noël Gresham (Philip) Blaschke of Fort Mill, South Carolina, and Drew (Carolyn Shierk) Gresham of San Antonio, Texas; and two stepchildren, Eric Bolme of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Diane Kulju of Washington, D.C.  He is also survived by ten grandchildren, Holly Brown (Lindsey) Watson, Heidi Brown (Ryan) Mason, Austin Blaschke, Jennifer Williams (Christopher) Cain, Adam Brown, Drew Brown, Madison Blaschke (Daniel) Nicholson, Lindsay Williams, Evan Blaschke, and Luke Williams; three great-grandchildren, Walker Mason, Rylan Nicholson, and Noah Mason; and by four nephews, three cousins, four siblings-in-law, and their families. 


ETA:  A version of this obituary, with the added feature of a "memory board" of photos, appeared in the Corpus Christi Caller Times on August 11, 2024.  Other versions were in the Dallas Morning News and the Hood County News.

© Amanda Pape - 2024 - e-mail me!