Mark Howze

Thomas Mark Howze, 82, passed away March 8, 2024.

He was born in Miami, FL, to Maston and Marjorie Howze, but grew up in Pelham, GA. 

He served in the Air Force from 1959-1963 at Bergstrom AFB in Austin, TX, and studied with the New York Institute of Photography as well as the US Air Force Institute.

He was a Registered Biological Photographer employed over the years by Duke University, the Medical University of South Carolina, and finally for the VA Medical Centers in Durham, NC; Louisville, KY; and Mountain Home, TN, from which he retired in 2002. 

His photography and video enhanced the education of medical students and other healthcare professionals at local and national levels. He started and maintained the programming of a patient and staff education closed circuit television system using video and satellite downlink. One of his photos earned him a Medical Education Award. Mark was also the first Information Security Officer at Mountain Home VAMC. 

He was married to his wife, Pat, for 57 years before her death in November 2022. 

Mark loved a good joke, a good magic trick, and “playing bad golf with good friends”. In his later years he enjoyed having a beer on the porch with neighbors and “solving the problems of the world.”

In addition to his parents and his wife, he is preceded in death by a brother, Gene Howze; and a niece, Donice Dowdy.

He is survived by: son, Jason Howze; daughter, Katie Powell (Ben); grandchildren, Caroline, Andrew, and Reese; sister, Ione West; brother-in-law, David Heiser; and many loved nieces, nephews, and cousins. 

Visitation for Mark Howze will take place on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Morris Baker Funeral Home in Johnson City, TN from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM. Funeral service will follow immediately at 3:00 PM, officiated by Rev. Gene Elliott. Mark will be laid to rest with his wife in a private ceremony at Mountain Home National Cemetery.