Mark C. Wilson Memorial Fund

Established: August 16, 2018

The Mark C. Wilson Memorial Fund has been formed in honor of Mark Christopher Wilson, who lost his life tragically on August 9, 2018, after a sudden cardiac arrest from unknown causes. Mark was 24 years old and just beginning the next phase of his life. The day after his death, Mark was to graduate from Texas A&M University (TAMU) with a Masters in Chemical Engineering. He had earned his undergraduate degree in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Oklahoma and was a 2012 graduate of Langley High School in Northern Virginia.

How to describe a promising life cut short too soon? Mark’s many friends call him one of the nicest and most genuine people they knew - kind, caring, unassuming, who liked to make people laugh. The best, most loyal friend anyone could have. Parents appreciated Mark's character and were happy to have their kids hang out with him. Although Mark had one biological brother, he considered the members of his fraternity to be his close brothers as well.

Mark was extremely intelligent and had a particular aptitude for math. He enjoyed tutoring others for free and at TAMU he liked teaching advanced chemical engineering-related classes. He was focusing his research efforts on computational molecular biology and had published several research papers. He was passionate about being part of the academic community contributing to finding cures to degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and diabetes, which had affected his family.

Mark had a variety of interests. While growing up, he played many sports – football, soccer, baseball and basketball – and loved being coached by his dad in them all. In high school, he was a Varsity wrestler and he also life guarded. He worked out often (as he told a friend so he could maintain his 7-11 store diet!). Mark enjoyed a variety of music. If you were around him at the piano, you would have certainly heard him play "River Flows In You" and "Nuvole bianche." If you were with him in his car the past few years, you probably heard some country music, like Johnny Cash or Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.” He followed current events and always added smart context calmly to any heated discussion with his family. He was half way through learning to fly.

Mark so loved his large extended family and his dogs Jesse and Maggie. Mark’s parents (Teresa and Grant) and siblings (Katie, Laura, and Matt) find great joy in knowing that Mark’s legacy can live on through this Fund, honoring Mark’s kind and caring spirit. This Fund will provide grants related to interests dear to Mark’s heart, such as supporting students who need help learning math, supporting academic research to cure degenerative diseases, supporting kids who need financial help to pursue sports and music, and anything related to dogs.

Your contribution is 100% tax-deductible. You will receive a receipt for tax purposes. Donations can be made online below or by check to Mark C. Wilson Memorial Fund, c/o the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, and mailed to The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, 2940 Hunter Mill Road, Suite 201, Oakton, VA 22124.

The family of Mark Wilson deeply appreciates your kind expressions of sympathy and your wonderful generosity.