Mark David Tompkins, 64, went home to be with Jesus on March 5, 2021 in Overland Park, KS.
He was born November 20, 1956 in Heidelberg, Germany, where Mark’s Dad was stationed in the Army. Mark grew up in Boxboro, Massachusetts. He received bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and in Applied Physics from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, MA.
On June 3, 1980, Mark was married to Sharon Dow. They had two daughters, Erin and Rachael. Mark worked as an engineer at Puritan Bennett Corporation in Wilmington, MA before moving to Kansas as part of a company merger. Mark then worked at Garmin International for 20 years before retiring in 2019 due to being diagnosed with Grade 4 Glioblastoma.
Mark had a passion for music, especially jazz. He had a great technical aptitude for sound and enjoyed spending his Sunday mornings helping at Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in their sound booth. He was very competitive and loved playing tennis and riding bikes on the Johnson County trail system. Mark was an avid reader, book club member and podcast fan – he was a passionate seeker of knowledge and truth.
Mark’s parents, Frederick and Kathleen Tompkins, preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife, Sharon, daughters, Erin and Rachael, sisters, Kim (McInnis) and Susan (Callen), stepmother, Carolyn Tompkins and many beloved cousins, nieces, and nephews.
A small family service will be held at Christ Community Church (Downtown Campus) on Saturday, March 27, 11:00 a.m. The service will be live-streamed at cckcdc.online.church. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Christian Fellowship Baptist Church, P.O. Box 16197, Kansas City, MO 64112.
I enjoyed working with Mark at both Nellcor Puritan Bennett and Garmin. He was a great calming influence and very knowledgeable. He also helped get tennis moving for Corporate Challenge in the earlier years. God Bless all of his family and my family will remember him in our prayers. May the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace.
I had the privilege of working very closely with Mark for several years right after he joined Garmin. Mark was a major contributor to many of Garmin’s early portable automotive products. He and I traveled the world together testing products, finding bugs, and keeping difficult customers satisfied. Mark was a true renaissance man – an outstanding engineer of rare talent who could easily move from solving a highly technical problem to a deep philosophical conversation without batting an eye. He solved some of the hardest engineering problems we faced, and mentored everyone who came to him for help and guidance. Truly he was a consummate gentleman. He will be sorely missed. My deepest condolences to his family.
I was so sorry to hear about Mark’s passing. I know that as a family, you are going to hear that he was a great coworker (he was) and a great engineer (he was), so I was trying to think of something different I could add. I spent a lot of my years at Garmin on a team with Mark off and on and even got to share an office with him for a while, all of which was a huge privilege. He was our Chuck Norris, the man who could do anything. But I could also tell that he was a man who loved his family, who loved serving others and who loved Jesus. It was not like we talked about a lot of deep theological issues, but we’d occasionally talk about his church and the areas he served and my church and how my family served in our church, and I could tell that it was a huge part of his life. He embodied that “servant leadership” spirit that our team at Garmin strives for and it has been a blessing to know him. I truly would not be the engineer I am today without him. So thank you Sharon, Erin, and Rachael, for sharing so much of Mark with the Garmin family.
Mark and I met as freshmen in HS and quickly became best friends. The Tompkins’ household was my second home and I know Mark felt the same way about my parents and sibs. My best life memories include our trip to Europe for 2 months in 1978. We bought a VW Variant (we name the “White Cloud”) in Amsterdam and visited Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, Austria, and Germany. As free spirits: we picked up all hitchhikers, talked with everyone, ate local (mostly fresh baked bread, cheese, and assorted veggies), swam the Mediterranean, visited my Swiss relatives while sleeping in; fields, Hostels, bus stops and occasionally in the car. Two young guys having the adventure of our lives.
As life progressed, we moved apart but never lost touch. I was so grateful to reconnect by establishing weekly Thursday calls starting this summer when I found out Mark was battling cancer. We held different views on many topics and yet we challenged each other respectfully on facts, reasoning, and logic. I will miss Mark – he will always be in my heart.
Mark was a lovely person. I am so sad for his beautiful family. I have many fond memories for visiting and laughing with Mark at the Mssions prayer group. Looking forward to seeing him again in heaven.
I was a classmate of Mark’s at Wentworth in Boston, meeting him in 1981. He was a brilliant student, equally respected by classmates and professors. Double majoring in EE and Physics while working part time and having a young family was an amazing accomplishment by Mark (and Sharon too). On top of that, he also captained the Varsity Volleyball Team at Wentworth. I was fortunate to meet Mark early in our freshman year, and he recruited me to play volleyball. As I had limited volleyball experience prior to that, Mark spent a lot of extra time getting me up to a collegiate volleyball level. He got me hooked on the game and I remember him describing it as a “thinking game” in that you had to do a lot more than jump high and hit the ball hard. I continued playing volleyball after college, and eventually met my wife playing volleyball, so I really owe that to Mark!
Mark and I played many sports together, and yes, he was competitive. Besides volleyball, we played intramural flag football, softball, and street hockey. We also played softball for 3 summers in a league at MIT. I have fond memories of frequenting the Village Coach House Pub in Brookline after some of those games. We would also head to the New Hampshire and Maine for skiing a few times per year, and would usually race from the top of the mountain to the bottom on the last run of the day. Not necessarily the smartest thing to do on the last run of the day, but it was a blast to do it and be able talk trash the whole drive home!
Mark and I kept in touch after college graduation and would periodically get together and play tennis or meet somewhere for dinner in the greater Boston area. When it came time for me get married, Mark was my best man. He teased me about having to wear a tuxedo. He said something along the lines of “I didn’t wear a tux at my own wedding, why do I have to wear one at yours”. As expected, he executed the role of Best Man to perfection and offered us a very nice toast.
After moving to Kansas, Mark and I kept in touch, and would often meet up for lunch or dinner upon his return to MA for visits. I would look forward to seeing him again, and our time together would fly by…..
I have so many fond memories of Mark and Sharon that I could fill this page and 20 more and still not get through all of them.
He was a great guy, and I will miss him
Mark was my adopted ‘4th brother’ as he and my older brother Dave Rey were together so much if the time during high school years. One fond memory was he traveled to Chicago with me to visit Dave in grad school ‘just to surprise him.’ He was authentic in kindness and friendship. Loved his laugh.
Mark had a profound impact on me as a young professional as many of his other co-workers have attested to. I remember vividly the first time I was sent to his office as a junior engineer to ask a question and in the midst of whatever company critical fire I’m sure he was fighting at the time, he took time to help and mentor me. Not only did this enable us to innovate in new areas but that and many future interactions with him between myself or my team members has long served as an example of what servant leadership is truly all about from a top engineer. I have no doubt that if Mark had that impact at work, he also did everywhere else in his life. My condolences go out to Mark’s family who I hope can take some comfort in the legacy he has left behind at Garmin in both the products we are making today and more importantly the people who are making them.