Mark grew up in Dayton, Ohio. He attended public schools in Lima until later in high school. He graduated from Lima Christian Academy in 1977 and enrolled at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. He graduated with a degree in secondary education in 1981. He attended Ohio Northern University in 1983 and studied electrical engineering and received a BSEE degree in 1987.
Mark started working at Westinghouse Electrical Systems Division (ESD) in Lima in 1986. When Westinghouse closed in 1993, he worked for the Sundstrand Company. In 1999, he took a job with TRW/Lucas Aerospace in Aurora, Ohio. He now works for Safran (a French company) in Twinsburg.
Mark started attending Grace Presbyterian Church in June 2003 with his wife Val and children. Mark and his family joined the church and had all three children (Matt, Nate, Leah) baptized by Pastor John Van Dyke. In 2006, Mark was nominated to become a church elder. He was then installed as a Ruling Elder. He served in that capacity until 2013. He was an inactive elder until 2019, when he was re-installed as an active elder. He now serves on Session as the Clerk of Session.