| Graduation Year | Class of 1970 |
| Date of Passing | Jan 09, 2022 |
| About | Longtime businessman and loving Yakima native Mark Needham passed away on Sunday January 9th, 2022. Mark battled cancer for 15 years just like he took on life. When told there were no more common treatment options, he went looking for the uncommon sometimes traveling the world looking for what the US would not or did not offer. Mark was one of four sons born to Roy Needham (deceased) and Velma Crawford (deceased) in Yakima. Mark graduated from Eisenhower High School in 1970 and attended Central Washington University where he majored in accounting and became a CPA. Marrying his high school sweetheart in 1970, they started their family quickly. A devoted family man at a very young age, all three of his kids, Paul, David and Christi, were born by the time he was only 24 years old, and all three graduated from WSU by the time he was 45. He started his professional career as a CPA at Schrader CPA but after a short time made the change to Mt. Adams Furniture as controller. A few years later Del Edler lured him away to a small truck sales and service center. Mobile Fleet Service is where his professional career would really develop, and his entrepreneurial spirit was able to take flight. He was a rare breed of controller who was completely comfortable going to sales shows and negotiating sales with customers. It didn’t take long for his title to change from controller to GM in his more than a decade of service at Mobile Fleet. In 1988 while still at Mobile Fleet, he purchased a wooden miniature golf course, and the birth of the Meadowbrook Family Fun Center began. The first years started slow but in time it grew to a full-fledged fun center. He always loved to tinker with things, but it was the fun center where Mark found his love of working with his hands. Mark built every part of the fun center, including all the obstacles at the golf course and most of the welding work that was required around the park. He spent more than 30 years working with well over 1000 young adults he employed in Yakima, most as their first job. He always enjoyed working and mentoring young people and demonstrating a strong work ethic through example. He had a love for recreation and enjoyed spending time roller skating, snow skiing, water skiing, and doing any kind of outdoor activity. Most important to Mark was not just recreating but doing so while surrounding himself with those he loved. In his final years he most enjoyed watching his grandkids play volleyball at the lake house or pairing up with his grandson Dylan to take the vacation cornhole championship, which he did every year. He was a big supporter of youth sports, especially soccer. He was part of a small group who helped create the first recreational leagues for kids through the YMCA and later helped introduce soccer to the Yakima jr. high schools. Forty years later he was one of the founding members of the SOZO Sports Complex. An avid poker player to say the least. He loved the game so much that he was willing to teach anyone willing to learn. This included his grandchildren who enjoyed it so much that they would text each other to “schedule a game” as they had a standing invitation at Grandpa’s house. (And a free meal!) Creating memories was very important so family vacations and outings with his own family were well planned. Once grandchildren came into the picture he doubled down on this motto and the vacations became bigger and more extravagant. Vacations with all 16 members of the family included cruises, Hawaii, snow skiing, house boating, and probably his favorite, renting a lake house each summer. Mark is survived by his wife Sherry, his three children, Paul (Shannon) Needham, and their two sons Dane and Brock, David (Toni) Needham and their three children Cheyenne, Savannah, and Dalton, and Christi (Casey) Kitt and their three children Colby, Dylan, and Mackenzie. Special thanks on behalf of the family to North Star Lodge and Heartlinks Hospice for all your compassionate care and support of Mark. Viewing will be Wednesday, January 12th from 2:00-6:00 pm at Shaw & Sons Funeral Home (201 N. 2nd St., Yakima, WA 98901). Services will be at held at 2:00 pm on Friday, January 14th at Yakima Foursquare Church (700 N. 40th Avenue). The Service will be LIVE streamed and made available to view by visiting the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88318525401?pwd=bEM0Wi9iZUx2b0QySWYxak41UXVpQT09, Meeting ID: 883 1852 5401, Passcode: 30470. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Yakima Greenway Foundation or a charity of choice and sent in care of Shaw & Sons Funeral Home, who is caring for the family. Memories and condolences can be shared at www.shawandsons.com. |
