Mark Alan Colvin passed on June 6, 2023, at the age of 68 and a half years old. Mark was born to Mary and Dale Colvin as well as his older sister Jeanette, in the town of Norwalk, California on January 6, 1955. He grew up in the California sun with a big interest in sports as well as the subjects of science and history in school. In high school he was voted by his peers to be the happiest and have the best personality in his senior class. Mark attended Colorado University and became a pharmacist. Colorado grew on Mark and became the place his heart called home. Eventually he met JoAnne Adams and her two children and married into the family. In August of 1990 he and JoAnne welcomed a baby girl while living in the town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
Mark worked very hard as a pharmacist but had dreams of creating a winery and making wine. In 1993, Mark and his family moved to Walla Walla, Washington to begin this endeavor after Mark heard it was an agriculturally perfect town for growing wine grapes. Mark, while still working as a full-time pharmacist, planted a vineyard and began his journey into the wine industry world. He made many close friends and some of the best wine to come through the valley. Colvin Vineyards won many awards for the wine he made.
In 2006, the doors were closed on the winery and Mark continued to work as a pharmacist at both Safeways in Walla Walla until 2010 when his heart called him back to the place he loved, Colorado.
He briefly lived in Fort Collins for a couple of years before making it back to his beloved Steamboat Springs.
Mark had many talents and interests outside of wine making and being a pharmacist. He was an excellent fisherman and would fish in many ways, but fly fishing was his favorite. He loved tying flies and going fly fishing with his best buddies Dave and Brad often in float tubes as well as ice fishing in the winter when the lake froze over.
Mark also enjoyed playing the game of cribbage, a game he'd played with his grandmother as a boy and with his family and close friend of most of his life, Dave, and Dave's wife Cheri.
Mark was also a very skilled cook and could often be found in his kitchen making some of the best food and meals. He loved combining flavors and spices to create new foods as well as perfecting recipes for foods that already existed. Sometimes, even after a full day of work on his feet, he'd enjoy making an entire pizza from scratch when he got home. If you knew Mark, you probably noticed how much he loved to cook by the amazing meals he'd make for family, friends, and coworkers. He loved sharing his culinary skills with all who enjoyed them.
Another passion in Mark's life was music. He was very good at playing his guitars as well as found so much joy and peace in listening to his favorite songs, ranging from classical artists like Chopin, Mozart and Beethoven, to more pop artists like the Beatles, to classic rock like that of Led Zepplin, Queen, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix to name a few, and of course the list wouldn't be complete without his love of Elliot Smith. Music was always one of the most important things in his life.
The best role Mark ever played in life though was that of a loving, doting, and devoted father, especially to his daughter Kate. He was said, by those close to him to always be talking about her and how proud he was of anything and everything she did.
Mark got very ill in February of 2023 and succumbed to his illness in the early hours of June 6, 2023. He was surrounded in his last days by immediate family and best friends and passed peacefully in his home. His daughter Kate was the last with him as everyone else slept, holding his hand, and tending to his needs.
During his last days, his family and friends watched his favorite movie with him: A River Runs Through It. His favorite line from this movie was the sermon given in the end which said "Each one of us here today will at one time in our lives look upon a loved one who is in need and ask the same question: We are willing help Lord, but what, if anything, is needed? For it is true we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don't know what part of ourselves to give or, more often than not, the part we have to give is not wanted. And so it is, those we live with and should know who elude us. But we can still love them -- we can love completely without complete understanding."
He is survived by his sister Jeanette Keele and a nephew Gregory Keele as well as his 3 children, Brian Glover, Kristen Henry and Katherine Colvin and a grandson Branden Glover.