REST IN PEACE, MARK LABOUFF

I grew up thinking that my family tree must be planted next to a toxic dump site. It was kind of short and scraggly with several very suspect looking branches. I grew up only knowing of my dad and his brothers and I had actually come to believe that my son and I were the last of the line.

I believed that until about 10 years ago when I got an email out of the blue from a Sharon LaBouff in California. She was working on a LaBouff family genealogy and apparently she was a descendent of one of my Grandfather’s brothers. I had heard that he had brothers but I didn’t know anything about them and it never really occured to me that they might be a fertile bunch with an impressive progeny. But fertile they were. I was invited to a LaBouff family reunion that year in Laughlin Nevada and there were over a 100 of us LaBouffs there.

If your name is Bill Smith (or even George Bush) you are probably aware of lots of other people with your name. I, on the other hand, had never heard of another person who was named “Mark LaBouff” until that reunion. But there in Laughlin I met the other Mark LaBouff and eerily, he was almost exactly my same age. He was also much better looking than me, but I tried not to hold that against him. I actually found it kind of comforting to know that there was another Mark LaBouff out there. In fact, I was thinking that if the Feds ever caught up to me I might be able to disappear and pin everything on the other Mark LaBouff.

We both found Facebook and probably because my name comes up a lot if you Google it (what with all of those pesky felony indictments) he chose to go by Mark Joseph LaBouff. I didn’t really know that much about Mark Joseph except that he was from Las Vegas, seemed like a really nice guy, and was an avid bicyclist.

I got a message yesterday saying that the age of 51 he suffered a heart attack while riding his bicycle and died immediately.

Even though I only met Mark Joseph one time I find myself oddly impacted by his death. It’s like a tenuous but strangely important connection has been broken. I’ve been reading all of the very heart felt posts on his Facebook wall since his death and it is apparent that he was a very respected and deeply loved man.

One of the things I’ve come to understand in my 52 years on this earth is that a man’s name is one of his most precious possessions and it’s very apparent that Mark Joseph spent his life building a name that evokes respect, honor, admiration, and love.

So, rest in peace Mark Joseph, and as the other “Mark LaBouff” my pledge to you is to try to live in such a way that brings the same level of honor that you have brought to “our” name.

Mark Joseph LaBouff, 1959-2011.