Mark Alanson Edwards
April 20, 1943 to February 13, 2015
Mark passed away on the morning of Friday the 13th, which he would have found humor in, I am quite sure,
Mark was born in Quincy, Ill. during the middle of WWII and came to California with his family in 1947 at the age of four.
He moved to Scotts Valley in 1959 and graduated from Santa Cruz High School in 1961.
Mark was a Vietnam Veteran and a photographer’s mate abroad the flagship of the 7th Fleet, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.
He took photos of LBJ, Chiang Kai-shek, Bob Hope, and a slew of celebrities, military officers, and politicians as they were aboard the ship.
He also analyzed photos of bombing runs to identify targets hit. Photography was never a hobby before or after the service — the Navy just discovered he had the eye for it.
Mark lived in Los Angeles for many years working many different jobs, including security at both the ABC-TV Center and the Sunset/Gower Studios which had been the old Columbia Studios.
He moved back to Scotts Valley after the Rodney King Riots in 1992 to be a caregiver for his parents until they both passed.
Mark was a character and a very unique personality. You all knew him, whether by name or not. The straggly haired, bearded one gathering cans in the copper colored ‘79 Olds, always with a smile and in good humor.
The whole community rallied around Mark when he had his first, much less severe stroke in 2009 and cleaned up his home. This last one took him down.
Special thanks and recognition Renee Olson, Don and Brenda Lahood, Eugene and Dene Bustichi, and many, many more I do not even know.
Renee deserves special recognition in bringing caring and joy to Mark’s last years. I have included a photo of Mark from his Navy years so you could see a side you have never before.
Mark was predeceased by both parents, Stanley and Thelma Edwards, who ran a fabric shop in Scotts Valley out of their garage for many years.
He is survived by one brother, Paul Edwards of Bokeelia, Fla., and one sister, Julie Schwab, of Cary, N.C. and a slew of nephews and nieces.
