Dr. Diffenderfer (at right in 1997) taught at John Carroll for 10 years and, with Dean Birch, Assistant Professor of Political Science, directed the Environmental Studies Concentration.

Read a brief report on the Memorial Mass and the eulogies for Mark Diffenderfer..

In the first of two moving eulogies Saturday, Mark Greenwood, a teacher and longtime friend from New Hampshire, remembered the graduate student who helped Greenwood build his family home. "Mark came and never left," he said. "We built a finished basement and he moved in -- both to our home and our hearts." Greenwood recalled the big white dog, Argus, who had a taste for expensive pet rabbits, and how he knew Joyce Callahan was right for Mark when "Joyce and Argus hit it off." Mark and Joyce would have two daughters, Erin and Meaghan.

"Mark gave energy to all of us," Greenwood said. "And our debt is not cancelled. We owe him."

Ernest DeZolt spoke of picking up the new sociology candidate in 1991and getting to know his future colleague over a dinner featuring plum wine. "From that first meeting to the last, whenever I think of Mark, three images come to mind: the gardener, the teacher and the builder." Dr. DeZolt also noted how a wry comment from Mark Diffenderfer could diffuse the tension that may arise over academic or environmental differences. "He was no humor-impaired granola cruncher," he said. To Dr. Diffenderfer's students, Ernie DeZolt said, "Just as your lives touched Mark's life, apply the wisdom of his teaching to your lives and to those who will some day be your students. Your presence here today is a tribute to the legacy that Mark leaves with this John Carroll community."