2020/06/obit-reese-PIC_CROPPED-210x300.gifMark Steven Reese died Monday, June 1, after suffering complications from surgery. Mark was born on Nov. 28, 1958, in Louisville, Ky., to Jesse Cowell Reese and Bertha Rose Redford. Mark was the youngest of five children. During his early years, he lived in Japan and Germany, moving wherever his father was stationed in the military. After returning stateside, he lived in Newport News, Va., eventually moving to Lawton, Okla., when he was 16. There he met some of his closest friends and his future wife, Jeanna Ezzell Reese. Mark moved to Pagosa Springs in 1978. Although he moved on occasion to other locations, he always came back to Pagosa Springs, the place he felt was home.
Mark was a talented musician and song writer, an artist and a carpenter by trade. He had a very sensitive soul and a kind heart. He was very witty and funny, creating different characters and preforming impromptu comedy acts. He produced two studio albums of his own music on which he sang lead and played acoustic guitar and harmonica.
Mark and his wife, Jeanna, reconnected at their 20th year high school reunion in Lawton, Okla. Both were living in Colorado and they began dating, with Mark eventually moving to Colorado Springs. They married on Aug. 5, 2000, in Pagosa Springs, Colo. Mark was happy in Colorado Springs, but he always wanted to go back to Pagosa Springs and convinced Jeanna to move there in 2008.
Mark is survived by his wife, Jeanna Reese; his son, Samuel Quiring (Summer); his father, Jesse Reese (Betty); his brothers, Ray Reese and Greg Reese (Julia); his sisters, Linda du Kor (Paul) and Pam Copeland (Jack); five grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. Mark was preceded in death by his mother, Bertha Rose Redford Reese.
A graveside service was held for Mark on Friday, June 5, at Hilltop Cemetery in Pagosa Springs, Colo., officiated by Forrest Bohlen, where friends and family gathered to say goodbye and listen to a little of his music. A reception was hosted afterwards at the home of Clay Campbell and Laura Daniels.
