Mark Hall

Mark J. Hall, 69, of Spartanburg, SC, died Monday, November 28, 2022 at Palmetto Patriot’s Home in Gaffney, SC. Born August 10, 1953 in Marion, NC, he was the son of the late Markis Rolan and Annie Ruth Stephens Hall.

Mark was an incredible artist with his creative tile work, wood carving and construction projects and his love for nature. One of his favorite expressions was “Mother Nature, she sure is something else”. He was always grubbing for rocks from an early age, and later discovering Native American, Central, and South American artifacts. Mark was always outside fishing and hunting. He and his friends, even at the early age of 8 or 9, would go to Linville Gorge in NC and camp out.

He entered the Air Force at 17 in 1971, immediately after graduating high school. He went into Avionics in Texas, then transferred to England. After a traumatic head-on motorcycle accident in 1973, he ended up in a Texas hospital for almost a year with reconstructive surgeries. He quickly bonded with the orthopedic surgeon who became Mark’s mentor and introduced him to his love for searching for artifacts in Mexico. He helped the hand surgeon with veterans’ needs until he was honorably discharged as a Sergeant in 1974.

He entered NC State in 1974, after attempting a trip down the Amazon River. He graduated in 1979 with a BA in Textiles and took a textile company sales job for about a year until his adventuring desires took over. He also made many trips to Mexico and looked for gold in Honduras.

Some of his other myriad accomplishments include:

❖ Meeting and marrying Sunny in the early 1980’s and having a daughter Dakota, his fellow adventure seeker and travel companion.

❖ Helped start a Native American Indian artifact museum in Old Fort, NC.

❖ Started a whitewater river rafting company with a partner, taking tour groups on the Usumacinta River between Mexico and Guatemala for 10 years. ❖ Developed mountain property in Old Fort, NC for over 5 years.

❖ Mark also started his company doing ceramic tile installation. He was well known for his attention to detail and perfection during his 30 + years working with owners of high end custom homes in the Asheville, NC area.

❖ He enticed a film crew to make a documentary on the Lacandones, the Maya Indians in Chiapas, Mexico. He befriended these lovely people during the whitewater rafting days. They would see him and greet him so warmly with “Marco”! He went back with the video guy 20 years later and filmed an update.

❖ Started a Revolutionary War Era Fort in Old Fort, NC; he said he had always wanted to build a Fort. Mark was determined to keep working on the fort up until 2015, even after he was showing signs of early onset Alzheimer’s. ❖ He built our eclectic and artistic “cabin” from the ground up on family property. He also built several log cabins on this property.

He was well served by Memory Care of Asheville, NC, Mountain Care Adult Day in Asheville, NC, Palmetto Patriots VA Home in Gaffney, SC and by Patriots Hospice.

Mark was a loving husband, father, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, son, and future father-in-law and was often called a “gentle giant”. He never met a stranger, charmed everyone he met, and left a lasting impression. He was an imposing figure with a dry wit, keeping us in suspense for the punch line after a “real” story.

Survivors include his wife of 36 years, Sunny Thomas Hall of the home; daughter and fiancé, Dakota Hall (Alex Head) of Greer, SC; sisters, Anne Allison and Polly Braswell (Bucky) of Hickory, NC; sisters-in-law, Cynthia T. Smith (Rufus) of Hickory, NC and Vickie T. Amon of Charlotte, NC; brother-in-law, John D. Thomas of Conover, NC; niece and nephews, Mary E. Amon and Fred Amon, III of Charlotte, NC and Eric Crosby of Hickory, NC; and his great nephews, George Allison of Old Fort, NC and Leo Amon of Charlotte, NC. Along with his parents, he was predeceased by a nephew, Seth Allison.

To honor Mark’s wishes there will be no funeral or memorial service.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The SECU Center for Memory Care, 100 Far Horizons Lane, Asheville, NC 28803. 828-771-2219.

Floyd’s North Church Street Chapel