Mark was born and raised in Morrilton, Arkansas, and is a proud son of his native State. He graduated from high school in 1978 and entered upon the study of Civil Engineering that same year at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He received his Bachelors’ Degree in 1983 and began his career with Varco-Pruden Buildings in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Opportunities for advancement and diversification in experience would lead him to jobs with other companies in Mississippi and Louisiana. While living in Monroe, Louisiana, he started his own consulting firm, Structural Engineering, in September of 1996. He has been successfully operating the firm for twenty-five years, steadily growing his client base while becoming licensed to practice engineering in twenty-six States.
Mark has been a member of the League of the South since 1996 and has served on the Board of Directors since 2004. In 2017, League President Dr Michael Hill appointed him as the League Executive Officer. He was also a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans for many years, but resigned several years ago, believing that he could best honour and defend his ancestors’ legacy by working to finish what they started – a free and independent Southern Republic – rather than merely re-enacting lost battles of long ago.
Mark is married to Marguerite Rivoire Thomey and they have three sons, five granddaughters, and one grandson. They reside on their 21-acre farm, Terrebonne, near Blountsville, Alabama.