Editor’s Note: I could write no adequate tribute to Mark Taylor, so I invited his SMGA friends and trail crew colleagues to offer a few words in remembrance
This was printed in The Loop in 2012, when Mark was elected to the board of SMGA:
Mark Taylor is familiar to many of you. Mark, his wife Jo, and son Ben are long-time members of SMGA, and Jo was a founding board member. As a child Mark lived for three years on the edge of the Sahara in Libya followed by two years near Phoenix, and as he says, “Five years without trees greatly enhances your appreciation of trees.” Mark’s connection with nature was instilled through hiking and camping trips with his father, mother and brother. This connection has been reinforced with Jo’s active interest in nature, and shared with their son Ben, who, by the way, also helps with trail crew. Mark and Ben continue to get away for outdoor trips as often as they can. Mark is a former city employee who assisted with a number of parkland acquisitions. Now he finds himself helping build trails in them on Thursday mornings. Some of you will recall Inga VanNynatten, the National Park Service staff member who helped get the Greenbelt Alliance organized. Mark makes a point of looking each day at a photograph Inga took, on which is said, “Through simplicity and close rapport with nature, one encounters the sacred”.
Mark and Joellen helped create & nurture SMGA from the beginning, although while Mark was the San Marcos City Attorney, he had to avoid becoming too identified with the organization. Mark imbued SMGA, and all who knew him, with his own qualities: gentleness combined with strength, determination combined with wisdom, and respect for others and for nature.
—Sherwood Bishop
We first got to know Mark when he invited us to be on SMGA’s Board. If not for him, we might not have our SMGA family. We got to know him quite well during our training for the Water Safari in 2022. He was so incredibly knowledgeable, enthusiastic, calm in tight situations and the best mentor 2 novices could have had. Unfortunately, we crashed the boat, and Mark wasn’t able to add to his 5 finishes. But he assured us he’d rather go out with a bang than a whimper.
Mark was by far one of the strongest trail crew workers. He never found a persimmon too challenging to grub or a bench cut too difficult to complete. He would quietly go about any task without seeking any credit. He was as humble as they come.
— Diane Phalen and Scott Henize
FROM FACEBOOK
Mark Taylor was a very good friend. He loved and was loyal to and served this city and its environment. He was courageous not only in the stances he would softly but resolutely stand behind as a city attorney, but he would get in a canoe and race the San Marcos River Safari. Mark would show up to help with conservation efforts where his intellect would be applied to complex arrangements or deals, or he would show up to pick and shovel in the muck so his fellow citizens might enjoy a beautiful trail on a lovely day. He could lead or he could follow with equal skill. He could be frugal in order to be generous in that he would find something someone else would throw away and turn it into a valuable thing to be shared so our Living Earth would not have to make yet another sacrifice.
Mark enjoyed life alongside his community to which he gave so much. We miss him.
— Todd Derkacz
Mark Taylor was one of the best people to be around and work with. While working through tedious projects, such as reviewing corporate bylaws, or a TCEQ grant application, his seemingly unvanquishable good humor and patience were necessary fuel to keep the job moving. He never wanted the spotlight, but his brilliance always shined through. We will miss him in many ways we can’t yet imagine.
— Paul Murray
I’ve known Mark (and JoEllen and Ben) since first joining SMGA many years ago. I served on the board when he was president. I never heard him complain as he did every task a trail crew member does from string-trimming, to chain sawing, to rock hauling, basically every grunt task there is.
He was the quiet leader, listening before making decisions. His humor was dry but spot-on as he was observant of all. He will be missed for his thoughtful, sage advice to all who solicited it.
— Lance Jones
Over the years, I was fortunate enough to spend time with Mark working together on various trails and greenspace projects both in San Marcos and around Hays County. Mark was one of the SMGA “heroes” I looked up to – a person that helped to shape my path in life after college. Trails, natural spaces, conservation,
water quality – all concepts which I didn’t quite understand the importance of until becoming involved in volunteer work with SMGA in 2008 and learning from folks like Mark, who was a true champion for the environment and for natural spaces in San Marcos.
However, Mark’s impact on trails expands much further than San Marcos. Mark’s vision for a connected regional trail in Hays County led to the formation of the Emerald Crown Trail workgroup, which advanced the larger vision to connect trails in San Marcos to the Violet Crown Trail in Austin. After months (really, years) of hard work, spearheaded by Mark with the help of the National Park Service RTCA and the stakeholders in the various cities along the proposed trail, the Emerald Crown Trail Master Plan was published in 2018. Cities began integrating this vision into their own plans and working toward a network of connected, accessible green spaces—a legacy that continues to unfold today.
A few years later in 2022, I joined Great Springs Project – and Mark was one of the very first people to call and congratulate me on my new role. Mark and I continued to work together with the goal of expanding on the vision set forth in the Emerald Crown Trail Master Plan and incorporating it into the Great Springs Project Trails Plan. Mark’s work on the Emerald Crown Trail and his coordination with Great Springs Project is a gift that will ultimately lead to a network of regional trails connecting not only San Marcos and Austin, but also San Marcos to San Antonio and all the communities along the way.
On a more personal note, I often ran into Mark and Jo on my evening walks around the neighborhood. Without fail, he’d greet me with a smile and a wave, and usually a funny comment or story if I stuck around long enough. Mark was one of the friendliest, most genuine people one could meet. I am grateful to have shared moments in my life with Mark Taylor, and I believe anyone else who spent time with him would say the same.
— Kenny Skrobanek
We will miss Mark’s contributions to the Natural Areas. He went about his tasks quietly, but very professionally.
The trails in Heaven will be in good hands knowing Mark is taking care of them.
— Kenneth and Donna Dees
In the mid 1980’s I meet Mark when we both worked for the city of San Marcos, he was the city attorney. Our paths crisscrossed several times over the following years as we both worked for various government organizations; SMGA was our constant connection through most of that time.
When I retired in the early days of the Covid outbreak I had the time to work with the SMGA trail crew while wearing facemasks. Mark was my mentor as we worked that fall on rebuilding Blind Salamander trail. He taught me the correct way to do everything from digging and packing soil to cutting limbs beside the trail. There is a wrong way and a Mark way, and I learned that I don’t win if I argue with an attorney.
Mark recruited me to be on his Water Safari support team. I was pleased that he trusted me with such an important mission. The river was one of his major loves. He had a way of showing his trust and satisfaction in what you were doing without saying a word. I feel Mark’s vision of the trails and love of the river brought him deep happiness. His influence on this community will be long felt.
— Jon Cradit
I can’t remember when I met Jo and Mark; it’s as if I’ve always known and admired them, and always looked forward to seeing them out in the community. I got to know Mark in a different capacity, though, when I joined the SMGA board in 2017. What I learned about him in the years that followed was exactly what the rest of SMGA already knew: that he was a dedicated and selfless leader, that he was passionate about the natural world and had a vision for its protection, that he
was a steady presence with a good sense of humor and an ability to put people at ease. What I most appreciated about Mark, however, was his kindness and his good heart. I will miss those very much.
— Susan Hanson
