Mark Wondolleck. Courtesy photo.
Mark Wondolleck
Oct. 28, 1947 - June 9, 2025
Mark Wondolleck was born in Oakland, California, on Oct. 28, 1947, the first of nine children of Harold and Helen (Correa) Wondolleck.
He was a fifth generation Northern Californian and grew up on Grand Street in Alameda, attending St. Joseph elementary and high schools.
Mark contracted polio as a young child, one of the victims of the widespread 1952 polio epidemic before the Salk vaccine was developed. He spent six months in Children’s Hospital in Oakland, a challenging experience for anyone let alone a child.
Through sheer force of will and considerable hard work, Mark overcame the immediate effects of polio and, quite remarkably, became an accomplished long-distance runner. His daily run would take him through Alameda’s Posey Tube and around Oakland’s Lake Merritt before returning home.
He was on the cross-country team at St. Joseph High School where he set the record for the mile for the Catholic Athletic League, a record that stood for over 40 years.
Mark loved hiking in the Sierra. The Wondolleck family made many trips to Yosemite where Mark would hike the trails leading to the Valley rim overlooks with his father. As a teenager he also enjoyed working with his buddies at the Encinal Yacht Club marina, cleaning the hulls of sailboats moored there.
At 17 years of age, he boarded a train in Oakland heading to Philadelphia where he had received an athletic scholarship to attend Villanova University. He was on the Villanova cross country team that won the NCAA Championship 3 years in a row (1966, 1967, 1968). The team’s accomplishments inspired the Brooks shoe manufacturer to name one of its running shoes, “The Villanova.”
While at Villanova, Mark joined the Augustinian Novitiate, a year-long intensive period of prayer, study, communal life and discernment in preparation for Augustinian religious life. Mark was a devout Catholic and a deeply spiritual individual and thought that perhaps this might be his calling. By year’s end, however, he had concluded otherwise. (Newly elected Pope Leo followed the same path 10 years later, joining the Villanova Novitiate and becoming an Augustinian friar.)
Mark never finished his last semester at Villanova. It was the late 1960s, a tumultuous time in our country with social activism associated with the civil rights, anti-war and environmental movements.
Mark had a low draft number for the Vietnam War, leading him to enlist in the US Army Medical Corps with the thought that perhaps he might pursue a life in medicine. Instead, after being discharged from the Army, Mark completed his college degree in forestry at Eastern Washington University, which was his stepping stone to a lifetime of work with the USDA Forest Service.
Mark spent his career as a biologist, serving in the endangered species protection, tree management and botanical programs of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest’s Avery Ranger District. He was in his element out in the forest, identifying endangered plants and using motion cameras to capture photos of wildlife, including some of the first sightings of northern gray wolves making their way south from Canada. The remoteness of the region and the nature of the work suited him. He loved living in the mountains.
Mark often took his son Jeremy hiking with him in the backcountry and accompanying him on hikes to set up cameras and retrieve film; these remain some of Jeremy’s fondest memories to this day.
Mark retired from the Forest Service in 2006 when post-polio syndrome began limiting his strength and mobility. He returned to California, first living on a sailboat on San Francisco Bay, and then later moving to Cobb where he lived until his death.
Cobb was a special place for Mark; the Wondolleck family had spent many summers vacationing there at Pine Grove Resort when it was in its heyday. In his youth, Mark had enjoyed swimming in the freezing cold pool, exploring Kelsey Creek and hiking up Cobb Mountain.
Mark led a simple life once back at Cobb, spending his days reading, particularly the Bible, and tending to his vegetable and flower garden. He cherished his independence and solitude, living the life of a hermit in his final years. Mark was fortunate to have his brother Paul living close by in Cobb, always ready to help him as needs arose.
While a stranger might have dismissed him as a recluse, Mark was a well-read, contemplative individual, knowledgeable about many topics if one had the chance to engage him in conversation. He is now at peace.
Mark is survived by his son Jeremy (Erin) Wondolleck of Spokane, Washington; brothers John (Nancy) of Denver, Paul of Sonoma, Jim (Stephanie) of San Rafael, Bob (Kathy) of Denver, and Tom (Cindy) of Alameda; and sister Julie (Steve Yaffee) of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
He was predeceased by his parents and his brothers Hal and David.
A graveside service will be held for Mark at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday June 24, at Glenbrook Cemetery, 12969 Bottle Rock Road, Kelseyville.
Arrangements by Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary, 707-263-0357 or 707-994-5611, or visit www.chapelofthelakes.com.
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