[1969] Remembering Mark

Thu Nov 11 19:18:38 EST 2010

Isn't there a treasury somewhere also? I'd like very much to see the group 
survive.

John Wingle

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ken Maxwell" <kobramax at insightbb.com>
To: "'Bob Dunahugh'" <yenko108 at hotmail.com>; <corvair at frontiernet.net>; 
<corvairdave at msn.com>; <1969 at corvair.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 5:35 PM
Subject: Re: [1969] Remembering Mark

>
> I attended the 69'er group meeting at the 2010 convention in Iowa. There 
> was
> a pretty good turnout of more than 20 people, but no one showed up to run
> the meeting. Several members stood up in an attempt to get something 
> going,
> but we mostly just sat around for about 20 minutes, when I left to attend
> another meeting. I hate to say it, but the heart and soul of the 69'er 
> group
> was lost with the passing of Mark. We shall not see his likes again.
>
> Ken Maxwell
> Louisville, KY
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: 1969-bounces at corvair.org [mailto:1969-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf
> Of Bob Dunahugh
> Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 12:34 AM
> To: corvair at frontiernet.net; corvairdave at msn.com; 1969 at corvair.org
> Subject: Re: [1969] Remembering Mark
>
>
> 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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>> property of the writer, please attribute properly. For help,
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>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> This message was sent by the 1969 mailing list, all copyrights are the
>> property of the writer, please attribute properly. For help,
>> mailto:1969-help at corvair.org This list sponsored by the Corvair
>> Society of America, http://www.corvair.org/ Membership in CORSA is
> strongly encouraged for 1969 Group members.
>> Post messages to: 1969 at corvair.org
>> Change your options: http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/listinfo/1969
>
> _______________________________________________
> This message was sent by the 1969 mailing list, all copyrights are the
> property of the writer, please attribute properly. For help,
> mailto:1969-help at corvair.org This list sponsored by the Corvair Society of
> America, http://www.corvair.org/ Membership in CORSA is strongly 
> encouraged
> for 1969 Group members.
> Post messages to: 1969 at corvair.org
> Change your options: http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/listinfo/1969
>
> _______________________________________________
> This message was sent by the 1969 mailing list, all copyrights are the 
> property
> of the writer, please attribute properly. For help, 
> mailto:1969-help at corvair.org
> This list sponsored by the Corvair Society of America, 
> http://www.corvair.org/
> Membership in CORSA is strongly encouraged for 1969 Group members.
> Post messages to: 1969 at corvair.org
> Change your options: http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/listinfo/1969 