Mark C. Roemer

Mark Charles Roemer, 63, died peacefully on December 28, 2022, at Dujarié House, Holy Cross Village.  He was born in South Bend, Indiana, on April 3, 1959 to Denise and Chuck Roemer.

Mark was the oldest of five and loved his role as the big brother.  He is survived by his Mom, Denise, his four siblings Greta Roemer (Jay) Lewis, Kurt (Tracy) Roemer, Karl (Shelby) Roemer and Marta (Craig) Brummell and his 12 nieces and nephews in whom he delighted:  Ian, Molly, Sarah, Ellie, Ben, Grace Shelby, Reese, Maggie, Leo, Moira, Sammy and Tess.

Mark’s colorful legacy includes having an unmatched work ethic, simplicity, routine, a child-like innocence, sweetness, occasional grumpiness and being THE lucky charm all these years to the St. Louis Cardinals. While his father passed down the initial connection to the Cardinals via tuning into superstation KMOX, Mark took it to another level in ravenously consuming statistics and box scores. He could recite career stats of star Cardinals players like Ozzie Smith, Stan Musial, Bruce Sutter, Bob Gibson…and of course, Lou Brock. If you were ever in an argument with Mark about a particular player from another team you thought might be better, he always had the statistical facts to back up his matter-of-fact response.

At a young age, Mark reveled in the simple joys of life like climbing a good tree (and teaching this fine art to his brother, Kurt), watching wildlife, or just enjoying the great outdoors, especially while on numerous Roemer family trips across America. He collected and loved to read Louis L’Amour American frontier novels along with books on travel adventures, wildlife, ND Football and of course the St. Louis Cardinals.

Although school was difficult for Mark (much later he was given an autism spectrum diagnosis), he worked hard and graduated from St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer. His work ethic and dedication also made him THAT employee recognized as always showing up for work, on time, no matter what. His career spanned long tenures starting as an office assistant, back-breaking work at a roofing company, multiple burns and calloused hands at a manufacturing plant, and then 27 years in various roles with St. Joseph Regional Medical Center where the former CEO told his brother that Mark was his “best hire” in part because he never missed a day of work in decades.

Although his wages were modest, Mark was very frugal and saved carefully. He paid cash for everything including his cars, splurged by going to the movie theater and found a nice routine in eating at the Old Country Buffet (and later Golden Corral) every day. Mark was very generous to his nieces and nephews and began shopping each year in September for their Christmas gifts.

The depth of Mark’s love for family will be an enduring legacy.  He accepted all of us and appreciated quality time. Never wanting to be the center of attention, he happily sat in on family discourse and gatherings with a wry smile and quiet contentment. No doubt he is sitting next to his best friend and dad right now filling him in on the Notre Dame bowl game and the offseason moves of the St. Louis Cardinals.

In the final years of his journey, Mark encountered a number of health challenges but his spirit remained strong and true up to the very end.

Khalil Gibran once wrote, “And when you have reached the mountaintop, then you shall begin to climb.  And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.” Mark and his dad are up there dancing now, when they are not watching sports together.

A private family service will take place, just as Mark would have wanted.  Memorial contributions in Mark’s honor can be made to LOGAN Autism Learning Center (logancenter.org), 2505 E. Jefferson Blvd., South Bend, IN 46615 or to Saint Joseph Health System in support of the Colleague Assistance Fund (sjmedgiving.com), 707 E. Cedar Street, Ste. 175 South Bend, IN 46617.