Mark Karl Wedel, MD

Born on the western plains of Saskatchewan. His dad’s initial missionary assignment was to migrant farm workers working the wheat harvest. Winter came to Canada early and hard. Frozen in. First Rh incompatible birth in that small rural hospital’s history. Mayo Clinic telegrams guided them through. Moved south - the Upper Peninsula of Michigan - to escape the cold. Sister Kathleen Lynette came aboard, then moved further south to the Missouri bootheel. Brother Timothy Paul came along. Childhood summers highlighted Little League baseball, Wisconsin, Golden Lake swimming, selling sweet corn, both grandads assuring total immersion in the Green Bay Packers/Milwaukee Braves madrasa. Piano lessons, spelling bees, caddying. High school graduation from Richfield in suburban Minneapolis, a thousand student class, a side job selling hot chocolate at Minnesota Viking games. The madrasa education held. Pre-medical education at Valparaiso University, a chemistry & biology major, Phi Delta Theta, Honor Council, numerous academic awards, Frede Mortensen MD, all culminating in medical school acceptance at Johns Hopkins. Stormy social times, losing JFK, Bobby, & Martin along the way. Medical degree completed and with sights fixed on ‘the promised land’ of California, he turned down his Chief’s offer to stay at Johns Hopkins, hearing in his ear ‘California? There’s no good medicine out there’ as he turned his flower-bedecked VW bus westward. San Diego was everything the Beach Boys promised, plus 80+ hour workweeks. The ocean’s influence was everywhere. Kelly Ann was born. Proud, proud father ever since. Four years later it was back to Minneapolis & the St. Louis Park Medical Center, the institution where ‘HMO’ was coined. Department head, accredited sleep disorders laboratory, internal medicine, mandolins, marathons. Geodesic dome in northern Wisconsin. Back to California. Scripps Green. More ICU work. Shih Tzu’s Samson & Delilah captured the household.. Law school just for fun, a stint with the Department of Justice in health care fraud. A plunge into biotech, first with Alliance and the liquid ventilation project. Nepal trek physician on Annapurna, 17,769’. Weekends in Steamboat Springs, wannabe cattle rancher. Medical volunteer in the Philippines. More biotech, this time as EVP at Isis Pharmaceuticals. Traded cattle ranching for avocado farming. A day without tractor time is not a day at all. Biotech consulting became a career. Signed on as crew for a tall ship circling New Zealand. Finland’s Arctic Circle. A Mayo Clinic kidney transplant was a transforming event. Heroes everywhere. Can’t comprehend the generosity of a living kidney donor. Payback devoted to fellow kidney transplant candidates, authoring a book, mentoring. Wartime medical volunteer with Samaritans Purse in Mosul, Iraq. A freak heat storm burned up 500 avocado trees. The farmer transitioned to wine grapes as an alternative. Sangiovese. Sauvignon Blanc. More fun, more tractors, more equipment, less water. More fun than words can describe. Medical volunteer in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Baja California. Bogey golfer, on a good day. Three rescued dogs, Truman, Dewey & Play Doh. Retired to southern Utah. Unimaginable natural beauty. A second book authored. The kidney kept going, barely. Low grade struggles but a great ride. None of it possible without valued & truly indispensable partner, Mary. Blessings abound. God is truly good. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at 2:00 p.m., at the New Promise Lutheran Church, 244 South Valley View Dr., St. George, UT 84770. The memorial service will be available live streaming at: https://www.youtube.com/@newpromisestgeorge1178 In lieu of flowers, we ask that you donate to a charity of your preference.

Mark Karl Wedel, MD

May 4, 1946 - April 1, 2024