Mark Disosway

Mark Disosway lived a long and full life. In his 97 years of life, he saw a great deal of the world, helped design new innovative diesel technology, and was the patriarch of his family. With a servant’s heart, he always volunteered his time, his effort and his love to anyone who needed a helping hand. Mark loved to experience and appreciate the world around him. He did many things in his life, all of which shaped him into the person his family and friends loved dearly.

In the year 1914, life was quite different from what it is today. The automobile was just becoming available on a larger scale, steam train railroads were spreading out across the country, ocean liners, also called floating hotels, were all the rage, and Americans were dancing the Fox Trot and Tango from coast to coast. It was also during this year in Chicago, Illinois that Mark Deems Disosway and his wife, Elda (L’Hote), welcomed the birth of their first child, son Mark, on September 6th. He was later joined by two younger sisters, Polly and Mary Lou, who completed the Disosway household. Mark took his role as the oldest and only son to heart, and was always looking after his family. Just a teenager, he spent a summer vigilantly caring for his mother while she was very ill, while taking responsibility for his sisters too.

Mark’s father earned a living as an Engineer, and his work required him to move around quite a bit. They went from Chicago to Knoxville, Tennessee then to Buffalo, New York and Detroit, where they stayed for a longer period of time. Along the way, Mark attended elementary school in each of these places. After they moved to Des Moines, Iowa, he finished elementary school and went on to attend Roosevelt High. Here, Mark was a member of the basketball team as well as the team manager and also served as team manager for the track team.

After graduating in 1932, Mark pursued an Electrical Engineering degree at the University of Illinois, graduating in 1936. By this time, the nation was in the throes of the Great Depression, which made jobs hard to come by. Mark had been working at Penn Controls during his summers in college, and after graduating, he was able to find work at American Radiator, working on the manufacturing of boilers. Eventually, Mark landed a job at General Motors in the Electro-Motive Division, which developed diesel motors that generated electric to run heavy equipment, like trains and later it was used in ships by the Navy during World War II. It fell to Mark to get this new and innovative technology out into the railroad industry, and he became a world traveling salesman, demonstrating the new diesel railroad engines in 48 different states. The U.S. Navy came to Electro-Motive looking for recruits with expertise in the diesel electric motors used on their LST ships. Mark quickly volunteered so men with families could remain at home. His job while stationed in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania involved creatively streamlining the shipment of repair parts to the troops and also efficiently coordinating the return of equipment as bases closed after the war. Mark often said he was stationed on a "LMD - a large mahogany desk."

After his military service, Mark went back to work at GM. As fate would have it, Mark met the love of his life, Lorayn Larson, one day while he and a friend were at the Aragon Ball Room, where Lawrence Welk was performing. Lorayn's hometown was Chokio, Minnesota, but after joining the War Department, she worked in Washington, D.C. and Chicago. That night Mark only got Lorayn's first name and where she worked, so the next day he called the War Department and they were able to connect him right to her and with that, their love story had begun. He soon married his sweetheart, Lorayn, in a ceremony in St. Paul, Minnesota on July 3, 1948. The two loved to travel, so they took an adventurous honeymoon to Banff and Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. The newlyweds then settled into married life together in an apartment near Chicago, but later moved into a new home in Clarendon Hills, where they would raise their three children: Diane, Mark Jr. and Glenn. Mark and Lorayn were both “involved” parents, who took an active role in every phase of their children’s lives. They never missed a school activity, sporting event or a scout outing, while Mark served as president of the PTA. As a family, they were also active in the Lutheran Church.

Mark and Lorayn shared their love of adventure with their children, and took them on many memorable road trips to all 48 states (that Mark had been through). They also visited Lorayn’s family in Minnesota and spent time at several lakes in the area. Mark liked to fish while in Minnesota, going out with his brothers-in-law and later taking a canoe trip with his boys. At home, he belonged to the Garden Club and served at one time as president. It was only natural that he would have a large garden in his backyard that gave him countless hours of enjoyment.

Having a strong family was important to Mark. He passed over promotions at work so that he wouldn’t have to uproot his family, though he loved the job he had, and always did the best job he could with whatever task was at hand. He traveled to England, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil and Argentina for work. He was able to include Lorayn in his trip to view the Australian Railways. In 1975, after enjoying a fulfilling career, Mark retired from GM. At his retirement party, he took off his tie and swore he wouldn’t wear one again. He only wore bolo ties after that. A few years later, in 1978, Mark and Lorayn visited friends in White Lake, Michigan, and they loved it so much here, they bought a house that would become their “home away from home.”

Sadly, Mark lost his beloved wife Lorayn in 2002 after a lingering illness. During this difficult time, he found great comfort in his family, and he cherished every moment in their presence. Mark enjoyed traveling with his family, particularly to Disney. So much so, he became a member of the Disney Vacation Club and went on several Disney Cruises, traveling to European destinations and in the Caribean. Mark also enjoyed a few Norwegian Cruises and traveled to Israel 5 times. It happened that Mark had just returned home from a trip to Disney, riding roller coasters with the grandchildren, when he suffered a serious stroke, which left him hospitalized until he passed away on Saturday, December 17, 2011.

An immensely humble and generous man, Mark was always willing to share what he had. He was thankful for each day and the blessings received therein. He will be dearly missed and remembered always.

Mark Deems Disosway, age 97, of Whitehall, MI passed away on Saturday, December 17, 2011. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lorayn (Larson) Disosway. Surviving is his children: Diane and Christopher Penn, Mark and Virginia Disosway, Glenn and Susan Disosway; his grandchildren: Stephanie Penn, Nathaniel Penn, Angela and Michael Shaheen, David and Sarah Disosway, Blake and Anna Mazurek, Matt Mazurek, Barb Miller and Joshua Schmidt; and 8 great grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held on Thursday, December 22, at 11:30 a.m. at Fruitland Evangelical Covenant Church, 4283 Weber Street, Whitehall, MI. Interment will be in Chokio, MN. Relatives and friends are invited to visit with the family on Wednesday, December 21, at the Heritage Life Story Funeral Home, Van Strien – Creston Chapel, 1833 Plainfield, Grand Rapids, from 7-9 p.m. and on Thursday at the church from 10:30 a.m. until the time of the funeral service. For those who wish, memorial contributions may be made to the MS Society or the Fruitland Evangelical Covenant Church. Please visit Mark’s personal memory page at www.lifestorynet.com, where you may sign his online guest book and share a memory with his family.