Mark Louis Ireland
Mark Louis Ireland, 72, of Pikeville, Tennessee peacefully passed to his heavenly home on Wednesday, August 14, 2024 at Bledsoe County Nursing Home, Pikeville after a brief but valiant struggle with pancreatic cancer. He was of the Catholic faith and loved his Savior, Jesus Christ.
Mark was born November 29, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Franklin Leo and Louise Georgianna (Helebrandt) Ireland. He was preceded in death by both his parents.
Mark attended grade school in Geneva, Illinois and graduated high school from Marmion Military Academy, Aurora, Illinois in 1969 with the rank of Captain. He went on to the University of Illinois where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1973. He entered the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine in 1978, joined the United States Air Force and began his postgraduate internship at David Grant USAF Medical Center, Travis Air Force Base, California.
Upon completion of his internship, Mark continued his residency at David Grant where he served as Chief Resident from July, 1980 to June, 1981. He was then assigned Attending Physician at Ehrling Berquist Hospital, Offutt Air Force Base, NE. His next assignment in November of 1983 took him overseas to Royal Air Force Greenham Common in Berkshire, England where he was tasked with setting up a complete medical clinic for the United States Air Force personnel stationed there. In 1986 he returned to the United States and was stationed at Patrick Air Force Base in Satellite Beach, Florida where he was Chairman of Family Practice until 1989 when he separated from the USAF with the rank of Major to begin his own family practice clinic, Ireland Family Practice.
For the next 34 years until his retirement at the end of 2023, Dr. Mark competently treated thousands of patients. He was everything one hopes for in a family doc-a brilliant diagnostician, an exceptional communicator who explained medical conditions in everyday language, a good listener, warm, caring and compassionate. He was an excellent and enthusiastic teacher whose door was always open to medical students. He treated entire families for generations and touched many lives as, not only a beloved physician but, a very good friend.
Mark was a man of varied interests and talents. He had a wonderful, playful, sometimes off-beat sense of humor which made him fun to be around. Mark loved music, especially blue grass, played flute, classical guitar and, later in life, banjo. He enjoyed fishing and canoe trips to the Boundary Waters of Minnesota/Canada, family vacations at Crystal Lake, Michigan, skiing, playing soccer in the Air Force, boating, golfing and ballroom dancing.
However, he found his true passion when he was introduced to competitive sheepherding with his Border Collies. He established his own farm in Central Florida, began raising sheep and started hosting a yearly stockdog trial on his farm that drew handlers from all over the United States and Canada. He served for 10 years as a director of the Sunbelt Ag Expo Grand Finals stockdog trial.
In 2020, he moved his sheep operation to Pikeville in the Sequatchie Valley of Tennessee where, for four years, he enjoyed a preview of how beautiful heaven would be.
Mark loved being a father and a grandfather. He enjoyed family ski trips out west, coaching his sons in soccer and Little League and, as a doting grandfather, captured his grandchildren’s imaginations with fanciful tales of the fairies who lived on his enchanted That’ll Do Farm.
Left to treasure Mark’s memory are his beloved and loving wife, Cheryl “Cheri” (Nelson) Ireland; his sons, Brian (Valery) of Melbourne, Florida and Kevin (Jessica) of Saint Cloud, Florida; and their mother, Patricia “Patty” (Dillon) Ireland of Melbourne, Florida; step-son, Benjamin (Gwen) Conro of Sugar Grove, Illinois; brothers, Todd (Vickie) of Milan, Illinois, Charles (Sharen) and Robert (Carol) both of Geneva, Illinois; brothers-in-law, John (Cindy) Nelson of Jupiter, Florida and David (Marcia) Nelson of Geneva, Illinois; sister-in-law, Laura (Howard) Lyle of Omaha, Nebraska; grandchildren, Evan and Liam Ireland of Florida and Jackson and Haley Conro of Illinois; nephews, nieces, cousins and many friends throughout the United States and Canada.
Mark was bestowed the honor of Life Membership in the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association. He was also a member of the Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians, the Tennessee Osteopathic Association, was a lifetime member of the United States Border Collie Handlers Association and the Greater Stock Dog Association.
In remembrance of Mark, please consider making a donation to Bledsoe FFA, 873 Main St, Pikeville, TN 37367 or Cancer Care Team of Bledsoe County, 12555 Old State Highway 28, Pikeville, TN 37367.
Condolences can be made at www.pikevillefuneralhome.com.
Pikeville Funeral Home was entrusted with arrangements.
