Mark Alan Harwell's Obituary
Mark Alan Harwell was born on March 13, 1961 in Houston, Texas and passed away on October 28, 2016 in Plano, Texas. Went home to Jesus early in the morning surrounded by his wife Beth, his three daughters Audrey, Hannah, and Meredith, and his son Jack. His mother, Janice Knapp and his father Thomas Harwell and his wife Sharon. He is also survived by his brothers Matt Harwell, wife Jenny, children Blaine, Braden and Presley; Mike Harwell. His sisters Brittany Colberg, husband Erich, children Caroline and Ava; Jennifer Harwell and son Devin; Courtney Harwell. Visitation will be held on Thursday, November 3rd from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. at Parkway Hills Baptist Church, 2700 Dallas Pkwy, Plano, 75093. Funeral will be held on Friday, November 4th at 2:00 p.m. at Park Cities Baptist Church, 3933 Northwest Pkwy, Dallas, 75225, with interment immediately following the service. There will be a reception at the Parkway Hills Baptist Church at 5:00p.m. **************************************************************************************************************** Throughout this past month of having our dad on hospice, it became clear how precious time really is. Our dad reminded us every day how much he loved us and how he was truly honored to be our dad and our mom’s husband. He told us constantly how he was going to fight for as long as he could to have more time with us. Our dad’s favorite month was October and he got to see every day of it up until the very end. Our dad loved early mornings, so much that before he got sick it became a tradition to wake up all the kids as early as 6:30 on Saturday mornings. He would play the Out of Africa soundtrack and pour our mom and himself a cup of coffee as they awaited our arrival down the stairs. We would all sit in the dining room and listen to music and after complaining about how early it was, our dad would say that he just wanted to be with us. He just wanted to soak up as much time with us as he could. During the time our dad was really sick, we were all wishing that we had one more early morning with our father. Our dad went home to the arms of Jesus around 6:30 early Friday morning and it finally felt like we had that one more morning again. Our father lived a life for Jesus and by Jesus and through that he was able to lead and raise a God-fearing family and leave behind a beautiful legacy. Journeying back on all the memories and moments that were spent with our father, the truth of that matter is that the honor was all ours. We will miss you so much daddy, but we are left with a promise that we will all be reunited again some day. You are free of pain dad, and we know with full confidence that you are walking on streets of gold with Jesus and holding hands with people who have gone before you. Give Chase a big kiss from us and remind everyone that we will all be home soon enough. Until we meet again… “I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” – The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Words from Audrey Harwell (22) – I’ve been thinking a lot about memories ever since my dad was placed on hospice about a month ago. I’ve been thinking about time and how it never seems to be on our side, we either have too much of it or we end up not having enough. I feel as if the latter has been happening often recently. I find myself upset at how time was not on my family’s side, as we had to say goodbye to my sweet father. I find myself irritated at thinking of how young Jack is, how young we all are. I will resort to thoughts of anger and wishing that we had just one more day with our dad, just one more moment. The truth of the matter is that we are not the controllers of time, we do not have a say in when people are called to Heaven. Often times we never really know why loved ones are taken from us but we are given a promise that one day we will all be reunited. “We who are still alive and are left will be caught up together…. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). I have this reoccurring memory of my dad and I on our last Indian Princess camp out. He propped me up on his shoulders as we walked in the dark to our last bonfire together. He set me down on this bench and went to go make us smores and by the time he got back I was overwhelmed with tears. I couldn’t really express at the age of 10 why I was crying so much but my dad started crying too. We just stared at each other and neither of us said anything but we both just knew. We knew that we would never get this moment again. We learned in that moment to soak up all the time we had left. That was the first time that I had felt such an overwhelming amount of love by someone that all I could do was cry. My dad and I had a lot of moments following that night that involved us looking at each other and crying but not having to say anything to each other. We always just knew what the other one was thinking and feeling. I will miss that the most about my dad. Daddy – you were my every The National song, my every Wes Anderson movie, my every Fall and Winter memory, my comforter on bad days and my cheer on good days. You were my first hello and my first hard goodbye. You were my first call, my protector, my leader, my encourager, and my best friend. Mom keeps on telling me that she was honored to be married to a man who was called home as a warrior for Jesus Christ. I am equally as honored to have a father who was needed in Heaven. A week or two before you passed you told me what an honor it was to have been my father, but sweet daddy you must understand – the honor was all mine. “I want you to know how much I love you, that you’ve given a meaning to my life that I had no right to expect, that no one can ever take from me.” – William Perish, Meet Joe Black Words from Hannah Harwell (19) – I am going to miss your weird jokes about when you first met mom. I am going to miss hanging up your laundry even though I hated it. I’m going to miss your cool expensive clothes and always hearing you say, ” where are my cheap glasses.” I am going to miss you helping me with my history test all the time and I’m going to miss my best friend. I am going to miss everything about you dad and I miss you so much already. I am grateful for all the times that we had together and I will never forget them. I love you so much and I can’t wait to see you soon. Love Hannah Words from Meredith Harwell (16) – I will miss the way you always protected me and stood up for me even when I was the one doing wrong. I will miss the way you always told me you loved me even if it was in the middle of one of our stupid arguments. I will miss the way you would tell me to come downstairs because it was very important then hug me and say that was it. I will miss you collecting rocks and coins with me for the past 10 years and always trying to find more. I will miss you teaching me about computers and cameras because it’s something we both loved. I will miss everything about you and I will miss you everyday. I love you with my all my heart dad. Love Meredith Words From Jack Harwell (10) – First thing I’m going to miss is his kindness and how he would always be so happy for me if I did something good. He would be so genuine and really cared for me and what I did. He wouldn’t be like those people that didn’t care. Second thing I’m going to miss is his joyfulness because whenever he would do something he would do it 100 times better than anyone else could. He would be so happy to do whatever we would do, like play basketball or video games or soccer. He would be so excited to do it and it would just be so much fun. Third thing I’m going to miss is his honesty. Whenever we would ask him something he would always tell the truth about it. For example, whenever we asked him what he did today he would always tell us everything he did instead of simply saying “nothing much”. I love you daddy and I already miss you very much. All six of us will be together again with Jesus someday. Words From Beth Harwell (wife) – I really have no words to express how sad I feel! I am so sorry that our children have to go through this sorrow…it is truly devastating! We all know you are with Jesus and that does give us comfort and thank you Lord that we will all be together again! I have thought about that at least 1000 times the last 48 hours. I am so proud of you Mark and how you changed so many lives. Friend after friend have either said to you in person, through letters, etc. about how you changed their lives, how you were so kind to them, how you always made time for them, how you took an interest in them. It is the same story time and time again! How wonderful for our children to hear these stories and hear about the man you were and the lives you changed. You always said I was the better half but I think it is really you based on all of these stories. I am so very proud of you and so proud to be your wife! I know you are with me right now and the Lord will give me strength each day. Our kids are amazing and I am in awe of them daily! I know why God wanted you in heaven, you are an amazing husband, father and son and of course he would want you in heaven as one of his warriors. I so miss your passion for life and your knowledge in EVERYTHING! You blessed me daily and always made me feel like a queen. Thank you for loving me so well, thank you for loving me, thank you!
What’s your fondest memory of Mark?
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