we made it home last night and were greeted once again with the kind gestures of all of you. On our trip one person made us lunch, another gave us a place to sleep. When we got home a group of friends had cleaned my mom’s house inside and out. Your kindness is felt through this blog and in our hearts. Please pray for Kari and family as they drive in today.
We invite you all to the memorial service this Saturday, August 2, at 4pm. The service will be at First Baptist McKinney in McKinney. The address there is 1615 w. Louisiana. There will be a small reception after the ceremony in the gym. All of you are invited to come celebrate the life of my dad.
Some of my family is not able to attend, so i will also stream the service over the Internet. My dad would laugh at all the technology being used to celebrate his life. To watch the service using a PC, go to www.fbcmckinney.com and click on the watch live button on the right side of the screen. Thank you again for all of your help as we take celebrate a life well lived.
Son of Whale 
A very cool way of memorializing…. peace
I have a secret about Mark Sr.. Actually, he was well aboveaverage in Techynology. He acted the role of “dumb or dumber” just so all the geek of the world (that would include his children and friends) coud THINK we wer finally ahead of Mark.
I am afraid it may well be that he was a sublime closet-geek.
Prayin and lving you al duing these days,
Jerry
I was so sorry to learn of your father’s death today when I saw it in the newspaper. I know from experience what a void will be left in those of you left behind. But you can have such peace and even smile as you know for sure where he is right now–in the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. My heart aches for all of you. May the Lord give you that peace that passes understanding today and in the days, months, and years to come until that time when you are reunited with him in Heaven.
Love in Christ,
Charm Cameron
Dear Presley Family,
My thoughts and prayers are still with you and will continue to be with you throughout the healing process you now face. Your father was a whiz at technology even teaching me some things I didn’t know, and I thought I knew quite a bit. He will be happy that you are using technology to celebrate his life.
Something happened in my life this week that helped me to see God’s glory and plan again. The death of your father, Mark Sr., was a somber, sad and difficult event yet at the same time I was blessed with the birth of my first granddaughter. It was then that I was reminded of the glory and wonder of our lord. He placed a special, precious and marvelous soul on this earth in your father. When he called your father home he made his presence clear to me by blessing my family with another miracle, the birth of McKinzie. I will always remember the glory and miracles. I will be there Saturday to help celebrate the life of Whale.
Cathy
We are so sorry but we will not be able to make the Memorial Service. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
The Bergmans
We will be out of town, but I’ve been hoping you’d have the service online. Is it possible to put a link here that’s not live? We’ll be at a wedding and unable to watch live. Something tells me this service celebrating the life of a man I never knew will really touch me as your words about him already have.
Mark,
What a wonderful tribute to your father and family. I am a friend of Kijsa and Brad’s and live in Lexington. I will be thinking of you all tomorrow during the service and in the days that come. How lucky you were to have the foundation build for you by your father and that will live on forever. God Bless you all!
Kijsa and the entire Presley family:
As I was scrolling through the obituaries in the Courier, to my surprise I read ‘Mark Presley’. Even at the age of 37, it is hard to believe that we share the fragile state of mere babies when it comes to our Dads. My Dad, too, was my rock! Because of the grace of God, you too, can live without regret. Look out for Mom. Love on your babies. Make some quiet time for you and the Lord. As the tears flow, know that He sees and feels your every pain. You will be in my prayers at 4pm on Saturday and the many days and months ahead. Continue in His blessings!
Presley Family,
For those of us who can not be there today, we will observe a moment of silence at 4:00 CST. There are insufficient words to adequately describe our collective sadness. Know our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Love Always,
Uncle George
A Poem I wrote for Your Dad
Little Dad………Our Cornerstone
He was a rock
Strong, steadfast, formidable
He loved rocks
All shapes, all sizes, all colors
He studied rocks
His knowledge heightened of them
He shared rocks
Passing on a passion to all who cared
He loved “The Rock”
The One who first loved us
He studied “The Rock”
The Rock of our salvation
He shared “The Rock”
Passing on His passion because he cared
He built his house upon “The Rock”
It stands firm in faith
He served “The Rock”
His relationship continually deepened with Him
He Praises “The Rock”
He Praises “The Rock”
He Praises “The Rock”
The Rock of All Ages
Praise to the Rock, Our Fortess, Our Deliverer
for the great things He hath done.
Psalm 18:1-2
We praise God for allowing us to know, love and share this incredible servant of God with you.
Much love,
Barbara Schneider
Anne and family,
What an emotional service, and, as humble of a man as he was, one that Mark would have approved of. Every testimony was heartfelt and touching, and reaffirms that he lives on in each of his family members. As shown today, you can take comfort in knowing Mark will forever be in our hearts and his teachings will live on in the relationships of his children.
A father’s dream, beginning when first presented with their newborn, is to raise “good kids”. Seeing old pictures of him with his young children and then personally experiencing those same infants as adults, especially over the past two weeks, makes me realize that he has accomplished this goal far beyond his wildest dreams. I think he got much more than his “15 minutes of perfection”.
Uncle George
Champer told us the service was just beautiful…incredible, in fact. We were not technologically savvy enough to realize that we could see it on line so I echo the question posed by Jen…might we view it at some point in the future?
Mark Presley was a special man and that is evident in the love surrounding him…that of his wife, children, grandchildren, sons and daughters in law and friends. He will be sorely missed by us at Sagamore and, quite obviously, around the world.
We will be thinking about all of you in the days to come.
All our love,
Mark, Candace and Jared
Mark,
The service was perfect. Thank you for having it on the web. Our schedule didn’t allow us to attend in person.
And thank you for this blog. I have long known you have an amazing way of communicating in images. You also have an incredible way with words. You have allowed us all into your family with this blog. We are honored to be invited to celebrate your Dad’s life with you.
We are sorry for your loss, and we rejoice with the Truth that your Dad is now worshipping at his Heavenly Father’s feet.
Tim & Suzanne
Dear Mark,
My family and I extend our heartfelt sympathy to you and your family upon the unexpected death of your father. I know you will be brave in your sorrow as he would have wanted you to be. I always admired his devotion to family.
Your Friend,
Gayla Drollinger
Dear Presley family,
We regret that we were unable to attend your fathers’ memorial service but watched it on the web.
What a beautiful tribute to your father and what an amazing role model he was for your entire family. All of you displayed great strength and honored your Dad in a way that no doubt brought great comfort to your Mom as well.
We will keep each of you in our prayers and know that God will bring you through your time of grief.
The Brian Kidwell family
Mark – thank you for your blog! It has been such a gift
*a gift to your dad
*a gift for your family to hear words from friends & family you might not have heard otherwise or at the time you could share with you dad
* a gift to all of us in sharing a personal time in your family’s life. The communication would not have been so quick or so true or widespread without the blog even if this had all happened right here in McKinney.
Your family planned a beautiful and worshipful service in honor of your dad. His faith in God, his love for his family, was all very evident, along with the friends he met & loved during his journey of time.
Thank you for sharing with all of us. Praying for you and your family in the days and weeks ahead.