Arlington Booker Taliaferro Mark (Mike)
Arlington Booker Taliaferro Mark (Mike) was the youngest of three children, born to Booker Taliaferro Mark, and Lottie Katie Carr Mark on November 13, 1931, in Apple Springs, Texas. He dedicated his life to Christ at an early age.
As a youth, he attended Ligon Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, a church founded by his ancestors in Trinity County. Arlington attended high school in the Chester Independent School District, graduating from Chester High School in 1949.
To further his studies, he attended Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas from 1949 – 1950. After a year of study at Prairie View University, Arlington decided to go in another direction by taking a job working on the railroad and by chance his job stopped in Devers, Texas. There, he met Rose Mary Trahan, who was working in her father’s café. She eventually became the love of his life and his wife of sixty-nine years, until her death in 2020.
It was a whirlwind romance and they were married less than a year later on June 16, 1951. To their union three children were born; Arlington Gary Mark, Arlene Mark-Jackson, and Michael Adrian Mark.
Arlington later converted to Roman Catholicism, accepting the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. He remained faithful to the Roman Catholic Church for the remainder of his life.
He worked several jobs throughout his life, including jobs as a logging truck driver, operating machinery at surface mining sites to excavate and load materials, and as a small business owner making aluminum screens and later as a concrete contractor, ensuring that concrete was delivered and poured properly, until his retirement in 2001.
Arlington was preceded in death by his parents, Booker and Lottie Katie Mark; his loving wife Rose Trahan Mark; his sister Lucille Siglar; brothers-in-law Arcy Siglar and Johnny Pickett; grandson Michael Anthony Mark; and great-granddaughter Angel Mark; daughter-in-law, Marilyn Mark; grandson-in-law Guy Weaver; son-in-law, Jerry Wayne Jackson, Sr.
On June 26, 2023, Arlington departed this life peacefully at the age of 91 at Houston Methodist Hospital in Baytown, Texas, after a brief illness.
He leaves to cherish his memory, son, Arlington Gary Mark, daughter, Arlene Mark-Jackson, son, Michael Adrian Mark; and sister, Levira Mark-Pickett. Also surviving are grandchildren: Arkesha Rene Mark-Weaver, Ashari Armand Gary Mark, Jerry Wayne Jackson, Jr. (Morgan), Arlisa LaShae Jackson-Sneed (Mario), Ryan James Fullbright, Kellie Greenwood Mark-Pettaway (LaWalden), Michael Adrian Mark, Jr.; his eighteen great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandson; and a host of other relatives and friends.
Friends are invited to visit with the family beginning at 9am, on Thursday, July 6, 2023 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 411 Milam Street in Liberty. A rosary will be recited at 10:30am. A Mass of the Resurrection will begin at 11am, at the church, with Father Paul Kahan as Celebrant. A Rite of Committal will immediately follow in the Liberty Catholic Cemetery. Please join the family for a repast in the church hall following the burial.
Condolences can be shared online with the family by visiting www.AllisonFuneralService.com