[1969] Remembering Mark

Thu Nov 11 00:34:18 EST 2010

As a director I was asking this same question. As chair of the 2010 convention , I wanted to do something for the 69's. I was told that Eve didn't want to give up the info on Mark's computer. DO NOT know this to be the case, but I heard it from pretty good souses.  Bob Dunahugh     69 Goodyear Yenko  YS 9700

> From: corvair at frontiernet.net
> To: corvairdave at msn.com; 1969 at corvair.org
> Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2010 22:30:29 -0500
> Subject: Re: [1969] Remembering Mark
> 
> Thanks for your wonderful remembrance of Mark, David. 
> 
> I, too, wonder what has become of our group. I thought it was a chapter
> with officers like any other chapter. Why didn't it carry on? Who were the
> last officers? I think continuing the chapter would be a living memorial to
> Mark who spent so much time getting it together.
> 
> Jim Bartasevich
> #4575
> 
> Use for yourself little, but give to others much. - Albert Einstein
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: 1969-bounces at corvair.org [mailto:1969-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf
> Of david robertson
> Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2010 11:32 PM
> To: 1969 at corvair.org
> Subject: [1969] Remembering Mark
> 
> The 1969 Corvair Group has been awfully silent the last few months, but if
> there is anyone still out there, it should be pointed out that tomorrow will
> be the second anniversary of Mark Ellis' passing. Sadly, the Group and
> CORSA have suffered many other losses since then, but were it not for Mark,
> the Group would have never existed and CORSA may not have survived its
> formative years. When Dave Newell called Mark "the Corvair's Best Friend",
> he was not exaggerating. In the decade that he was part of our local club,
> he became my best friend, too. 
> We had many adventures together. Thanks to Mark, I met Corvair people I
> wouldn't have otherwise and went places I probably wouldn't have gone. 
> Some highlights include: 
> Our '99 (best ever) club fall trip to the mountains that included a
> thrilling drive on what Mark labelled 'the perfect day'.
> Dining with Bob Veryzer and his wife after the '99 Vair Fair/'69 Reunion and
> hearing about his days at GM and their first memorable trip in an early
> Vette (BTW, without Mark, that show would've been just another pleasant, but
> run-of-the-mill get-together).
> Our trip to Detroit for the 2000 Woodward Dream Cruise and DACC Homecoming
> which included meeting Dave Martens, Stu Schuster, and our own Dave Newell.
> In what may have been the ultimate Corvair experience, Stu took us cruising
> on Woodward in his special '69 vert that had once belonged to Ned Nickles.
> I saw the Monza GT and Willow Run (which looked kind of deserted) and toured
> a working factory, Lansing Car Assembly, all for the first time. We visited
> the Motown Museum and the Renn Center, too. 
> In 2001 we returned to Woodward, but this time in my '65 Corsa vert. Mark
> was a big Motown fan and I'll always remember how happy he looked that day,
> cruising down Woodward, top down, blasting the Supremes. I saw the Monza SS
> for the first time. We had dinner with Bob Cadaret's daughter and her
> family. We also spent some quality time with Harold and Kitty Dexter,
> visited many museums, and drove all over the place with the top down
> (remember when premium was only $1.65 a gallon?). The Corsa visited its
> birthplace, Willow Run, but the gates were locked and pictures from the
> street were the best we could do. I met Jack Thompson at the Ypsi Museum.
> Mark was a strong proponent of having CPF be part of that museum and a fan
> of Jack. 
> In 2003, we attended the Eyes on Design show at the Tech Center (holy
> ground) and were allowed in the Design Center (Simply Awesome!). Also
> toured the vast Gilmour (impressive) and saw three Tuckers outside. We even
> heard one run. 
> The CORSA 2007 convention was our last big trip. My Corsa finally made it
> to the Tech Center for the Car Display. Mark and I had to be chased out of
> the Heritage Collection when closing time rolled around. We revisited
> Willow Run, along with Mike Fiscus and Mark's old Philly buddy, Ron
> Petrelli, but an unfriendly security guard and his supervisor wouldn't let
> us take pictures. Later, Mark and I had the last laugh. On the way home
> Saturday, we drove by and no one was in the guard shack. We sped in, took a
> few quick shots of the Corsa in front of the famous 'Fishbowl', and made our
> escape. Mike rode with us on the Rally and later we talked him into
> exploring downtown Detroit, not the safest place in the world. I wouldn't
> think of going by myself, but along with Mark it became just another
> adventure. We were surprised to find we could go in the old GM building and
> the old Fisher building, both are overlooked art deco masterpieces. 
> The thing I miss most about Mark was his unique sense of humor. It ranged
> from adolescent and goofy, to very dry and understated, with a little Philly
> wise guy thrown in occasionally. At the outset of one club trip, he posed
> in front of a red and white Greenbrier, holding a box of Krispy Kreme
> doughnuts (he loved junk food and fast food) and wearing a K.K. paper hat.
> I also have shots of him clowning on Harold Dexter's Corvair bicycle (for
> many years, he was a serious bicyclist). His hatred of meatloaf (he was a
> notoriously picky eater) was a running joke with Newell for years. Once I
> found out about it, the whole club got in on it. Anytime we gathered at a
> restaurant, the 'm' word was sure to be a hot topic. He could break me up
> with the simplest comment or facial expression. You should have seen the
> look on his face when he first encountered 'Earl the clogger' at an old time
> country music show in North Carolina. It was priceless... 
> I never imagined anything bad happening to him. In the summer of '08, he
> was talking about his efforts to tame the rust and preserve his '69
> convertible project car, #0085, and his beloved '69 Fitch coupe. He said he
> couldn't make it last forever, but "it'll last 20 years or as long as I'm
> around." I suddenly realized the reality that he was over 60 and in 20
> years he would be over 80. No one lives forever, but I thought he would
> be here for at least that 20 years. That he would be gone a few short
> months later seemed an impossibility. He had worked so hard, for so many
> years, surely he deserved to enjoy a well-earned retirement? Didn't he
> deserve time to do all those Corvair-related projects that the demands of
> work had forced him to sideline for so long? 
> His sudden and mysterious illness (even an autopsy ultimately provided no
> good answers) and eventual passing was devastating. I still wonder if I
> could have done something to change what happened. The past two years have
> been truly awful... 
> Last year, I reassembled #0085 enough to move it and brought it home.
> Someday, I hope to restore it as Mark had planned. Its OE engine was toast
> (I have it and will rebuild it someday), so I installed a nasty engine from
> a '69 junker he and I stripped a few years back. Being a Vair engine, with
> a little TLC it started up and ran. Tomorrow, after work, I will start it
> and rev it up a few times for Mark. Then I'll get the Corsa out, put in a
> Motown CD, and cruise to MacDonalds for a cheeseburger and chocolate shake
> (Mark's favorites) and remember the Corvair's best friend and mine. 
> Maybe you can take a moment and remember him in your own way. 
> Thanks, 
> David Robertson 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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