About Mark
Mark Allen Grindstaff’s story began on October 30th 1956 in Granite City Illinois. He was the youngest of three sons born to Gaylord and Peggy Grindstaff. Joe was born in January 1954. Tim was born in May 1955. And then came Mark. Mark is only survived by his brother Tim. As he grew up with his brothers they were all very rambunctious adventurous boys. They would set off for the day on their bikes and not return home until dusk. There are so many crazy, funny and yes scary stories they had. Oh the things those 3 boys did. As the brothers grew up Mark & Tim were not only brothers but best friends.
Mark’s real love of music started when he and his brothers received guitars for Christmas when they were in Jr high. They formed a band called Murch. No meaning behind the name. They made the name up liked it and went with it. Mark did not take to the guitar, but he did find he really liked playing drums. His nickname during that time was snare boy because he had a real talent with snares. Murch played for Jr High dances, at a bowling alley and the Moose Lodge on several occasions.
Mark graduated from Granite City High School North in 1974. After graduation he completed a few semesters of college at SE Missouri State in Cape Girardeau, Missouri . He always said that’s where he majored in foosball, partying & girls. Huh....go figure on that last one! He quickly realized college was not his thing at that time. He quit and started working in the distribution center at Brown Shoe Company where his dad was the plant manager. Thus began his career in distribution and manufacturing which is the profession he remained in.
Mark and his brother Tim moved to Panama City Florida in the early summer of 1977. Mark and Sandy started dating in June of 1978 and got married April 22, 1979. ( In the story section look up the story by Sandy to find out how they met).
Their adventure was just beginning. In September of 1979 the couple moved to the St Louis Missouri Suburbs. On July 7, 1982 Christian Ryan was born . 19 months later on February 17, 1984, Justin Tyler was born. Mark had taken a position with Wetterau Food Distribution and He quickly advanced into a management position.
Mark started taking positions that would move him up in seniority in the Distribution field. In February of 1986 the family made their first move to Charlotte North Carolina where he worked for Family Dollar stores Distribution. One year later the family moved to Searcy Arkansas where he worked for Walmart Distribution. Two yrs later the move was to Dallas Texas area. Three years later the family moved to Boardman Ohio. In April of 1993 Mark and Sandy moved their family to the beautiful Pacific Northwest Seattle suburbs. Mark had taken a managers position over Distribution for Starbucks. This is where their sons grew up and have remained.
On June 9, 2006 Ethan Parker was born Mark & Sandy’s first grandchild. Very quickly after Ethan was born, Lylah Soo Jung came along on August 1, 2007. Mark & Sandy remained in Seattle for 18 years. In February of 2011, Mark & Sandy moved to the Chicago Suburbs, Naperville Illinois, their favorite neighborhood to live in. Mark worked for NFI for 5 yrs. When there was an opportunity to move back to Seattle Mark & Sandy made the move. They were back for about 16 months and Mark took a position with Le Tote Distribution in Stockton, California.
On August 25, 2018 we welcomed the newest member of our family Nichole Bitz Grindstaff who is the wife of Christian Grindstaff.
This is where Mark's story on this earth ends. But his eternity of freedom and happiness has begun...