My Dad, Part One...

Sherri thought that I should post a poem that I wrote and Riky read for my dad's funeral. I think that I will do it, but I think that I will turn it into a three part series. This will be the first part. The obituary that we wrote about Dad:

Thomas Mark Harmon was born October 7, 1955, the oldest child of William H. and Joan Harmon. He was taken from us much too soon at the age of 50 on January 2, 2006 when his single engine airplane crashed in Utah on his way back to work.
He attended school in Shelby, NC where he graduated in 1973. He was the star defensive nose tackle on the undefeated 1972 North Carolina State Champs, the Shelby Golden Lions. Shortly after graduating, He met Tamela Bridges and they were married on August 20, 1976. In October of ‘76, he came out to Wyoming on a hunting trip. During that trip, he fell in love with the big sky and beautiful lands of the west. His daughter Amanda Jo was born on August 10, 1977. 18 months later Mark moved to Decker, MT to work as a ranch hand. On April 17, 1980, his son Christopher David was born. Mark moved his family to Carbon County and stayed in that area for the duration of his marriage. He then started working on power plants, which took him away from home for months at a time. In 1988 Mark took his family on an unforgettable trip around the U.S. They traveled to the Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, swam in the Gulf of Mexico, visited amusement parks and many other interesting sites. The trip took them through 41 of the 50 states. In the fall on 1988 Mark went to Alaska for the first time with his wife and friend, Bob. The hunt was successful and they brought back 3 caribou and 1 moose. He and Tamela were separated in 1989 and divorced in 1991.

In February 1991 Mark met Wanda Ostwalt. Mark and Wanda seemed like an unlikely match at first, she "lived to work" and he "worked to live". While they were dating, Mark’s job as a contract field engineer required him to locate in Alabama. Wanda enjoyed traveling and visited often. Three years later on October 20, 1994, Wanda and Mark found themselves in Las Vegas where they were married. In 1998, together, they designed and built the house they were residing at. On March 18, 1998, Amanda and Riky made him a grandpa for the first time. Michael, his first grandson, was his pride and joy and two more grandsons, Jeffrey and Jordan soon joined them on all of their excursions together. He loved to pick them up to do simple errands. Thursday soon became "Survivor and pizza night at Grandpa’s". When Christopher married and added two grandchildren, Kordell and Jordan, to the family, Mark welcomed them into the fold. Mark bought his first airplane in December on 1998 and began taking pilot lessons. On March 3, 1999 he received his Private Pilot’s license and in 2004 his Commercial License. Mark used his plane to commute between jobs and home and also for pleasure. He loved to take the grand babies on all day flights across Montana, even spending 4 days fishing with them and then flying home loaded down with fish.

Wanda and Mark also enjoyed flying their planes, fishing and hunting in Alaska, and around the United States as well as traveling to Mexico for big game fishing. Mark was an avid hunter and excellent marksman. He frequently brought home trophy elk, deer, bear and many other assorted animals. In 1994, at the Skeet Shooting World Championship held in San Antonio, TX, he was named the Rookie World Champion. After applying for 24 years he was successful in drawing a permit for a Bighorn Sheep. On October 12, 2005, he flew his bush plane to the backcountry of the Missouri Breaks where he was successful in taking his trophy of a lifetime, a 10-year-old Bighorn Ram. Mark was an instructor for Bow Hunter’s safety and a member of the Montana Pilot’s Association. His one dream that was left unfulfilled was to go on an African Safarri. He had plans to take his wife to Africa in the Spring.

At the time of his death, he was looking forward to adding his first graddaughter to the "Harmon Clan".