From Pam Metherell:

Alex and I named our first born child Mark for three reasons:

1. Because it was Biblical
2. Because it sounded great with Metherell
3. Because it meant “Warrior”

Occasionally over the past years since he graduated from Wheaton College and entered the Navy SEAL program I have thought maybe a “wimpier” name would have been safer but it would not have fit.
First and foremost Mark was a GODLY son who loved Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior since being introduced to Him at 4 or 5 by his best friend Scott Crowell who told him he would go to hell when he died if he did not pray to have Jesus in his heart and he immediately prayed to do so. Two little blonde kids sharing the most important lesson in life.

Actually it was Mark that brought our entire family to a saving knowledge of Christ. Although Alex and I had not been attending church, we had wanted to have Mark baptized when my parents were visiting from Scotland in the summer of 1969, and as we had been married in a Presbyterian church in Scotland, we looked in the yellow pages to find a Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach.
The first one only did baptisms at certain times of the year but Charles Dierenfield said he would be happy to have a private ceremony in the chapel at St Andrews. Because of his graciousness we started attending church there and were invited to join the Ensigns the young couples group which had monthly speakers.

At one such meeting Chuck Missler spoke and gave a statistical analysis on how one man, Jesus Christ, fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophecies. Alex as a scientist computed the numbers in his head and became a Jesus “freak” on the spot.

I liked the transformation and would accompany him to Bible studies. At one such study in Huntington Beach the teacher was explaining the meaning of “original sin” and pointed to a newborn baby girl in her mother’s arms at the back of the room. “If that baby girl needs Christ in her life because of original sin, what about those of you who are older?” I surrendered my life to Christ that night and that baby girl grew up ------ became a Christian --and married my son Mark.

Alison, Mark’s sister, became a believer as a little 4 year old at the neighborhood Good News Club where they gave out doughnuts to those who asked Jesus into their hearts. The teacher explained that she could only do it once!

Caroline, Mark’s other sister, became a Christian as a 3 year old when she was scared on learning that I was having some minor surgery and I told her that I had Jesus in my heart to take care of me and she wanted Him in her heart to take care of her too.

Mark was a LOVING son who loved his sweet wife Sarah passionately. After first meeting her he told me “she is the most awesome woman I have ever met”.  A friend writing on his website expressed it
perfectly, “only the brightest gem would do for Mark. The gem that fit so tightly into the nooks and crannies of Mark, that joined together they became the brightest star”.

He was a PRECIOUS son who adored his baby Cora because “brown babies are so much cuter and isn’t she just the cutest! He said recently “the only problem is she makes Sarah and I look so pasty. We are going to have to spend a lot of time at the beach”. On his blog he wrote to a friend who is considering adoption, “We love Cora so much. She is much cooler than anything we could have produced. Brown is so much more interesting than pasty-pale.”

He was a NOBLE son who loved and respected his parents and was loved and respected in return.

He was a LOYAL son who loved and protected his two sisters Alison and Caroline who were born 2 years and 7 years after him and was so proud of them and their accomplishments.

He was a COMPASSIONATE son who loved my mother, his 97 year old Nana, and wanted Cora to call her “Super Nana”. He played kings in the corner with her whenever he was home and always allowed her to win because she was “so small and so cute!” Dave, a good friend, is taking over that assignment in Mark’s place.

He was a CARING son who loved my sister Wendy whom as a baby he always called “Dee Dee” and still did whenever he saw her.

He was a KIND-HEARTED son who loved my late Dad, his Grandpa whom he described when he was a little boy, as “the wisest man in the whole wide world -----– except of course for Dad.

He was a GRACIOUS son who loved Sarah’s parents Gail and Peter and the rest of her family so much that Alison and Caroline were concerned that he had become more of an Ochs than a Metherell ------ and he almost had, enabling us to become one extended family.

He was a CORAGEOUS son who loved growing up at the beach where he could monitor surf conditions from his bed, and would dive in to join dolphins and whales that he spotted swimming in the bay. On Monday, there were hundreds of dolphins leaping and somersaulting in the surf.

His burial plot at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery is on a bluff overlooking the ocean across to Coronado, where he will be buried with full military honors. What a perfect spot for a Navy SEAL and a California surfer dude!

He was an HONORABLE son who loved his Cottage-style home on Brooks Street in Laguna surrounded by some of his best friends.  That same street where American flags, at half mast, waved in the breeze under brilliant blue skies all week, and where on Friday evening a week ago, under a bright moon and sparkling stars, candles were lit, and Amazing Grace was sung, in his memory.

He was a PATRIOTIC son who loved his country and his “dream job” which took him all over the world on secret missions and amazing adventures, and we are now just learning of the many lives he has saved, both physically and spiritually. A friend wrote that “he was an ambassador for freedom in every sense of the word”.

He said that if anything happened to him “he would be on the most exciting adventure of his life”, which he is on today, making Heaven more inviting to those in our family who are left behind.

His last words to us on the day before he died were “I love you both.” “I am fine.” “Don’t worry.” He IS fine and we don’t have to worry any more. In closing----one of his favorite books-- and oh, how he loved to read ---- was written by Stu Weber a fellow alum. from Wheaton College, also in the Special Forces. The title of his book sums up Mark perfectly in 2 words ------ Tender Warrior. 

Mark “you have fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith. Well done, good and faithful servant”.