Mark Joseph Beierschmitt

Mark Joseph Beierschmitt (66), a long time resident of Bowie, passed away on August 17, 2019 after a courageous battle with cancer.  We his brothers and other family members and friends mourn the loss of a truly remarkable and gentle soul.  Mark was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Joseph P. and Mary Louise Beierschmitt on September 13, 1952, and was the oldest of four sons. The entire family resided in Arbutus, Maryland, until 1963, when they moved to a newly completed house in the Meadowbrook section of Bowie, with Mark subsequently purchasing his own townhouse years later near the family home.  A 1971 graduate of Bowie Senior High, Mark went on to graduate from the University of Maryland and was employed as a statistician with the Internal Revenue Service in Washington DC for 38 years until he retired ten years ago.

Mark had a great sense of humor, a kind and easygoing demeanor, and was never one to be abrupt or discourteous to others.  He possessed a keen intellect, an amazing ability to recall facts and information from the past, and the Orioles and the Capitals never had a better fan.  Beginning at an early age, few were able to provide him with a meaningful challenge when sitting across a chessboard from him, and for most playing a game of Scrabble with him was a futile waste of time.  Yet, he would always dispatch a challenger with his trademark playful friendly grin; it was never personal.   An avid traveller, Mark visited 5 continents, and never met a thrill or adventurous activity that he didn’t like.  Climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia, going dogsledding on an Alaskan glacier, riding a camel in the Egyptian dessert, going on the world’s longest zip line in Hawaii, bird watching in Costa Rica, on safari tracking wild animals in Tanzania, vacationing in Paris and Rome (after teaching himself basic French and Italian), and SNUBA diving on the Great Barrier Reef and a variety of other locations world-wide are just some examples.   An adrenaline junkie, he once went on vacation to the Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio (known as the Roller Coast Capital of the World), for the sole purpose of riding their famed 18 world-class coasters.  Mark also had a giving heart, and was proud of his sponsorship of children in underprivileged countries.  In short, Mark lived life to the fullest, and enjoyed every moment of it, which was an inspiration to all of us who knew him. 

Mark is predeceased by his parents Joseph and Mary Louise Beierschmitt.  He is survived by his brothers Joseph Michael of Annapolis, Michael John and wife Amber of Bowie, William Paul and wife Michelle of Waterford, Connecticut, his nephew and Godson Christopher Michael of San Diego, and a number of cousins.  He will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved him. 

The family will receive visitors at the Beall Funeral Home, 6512 NW Crain Hwy. (Rt. 3 South), Bowie on Thursday, August 22, 2019 from 6pm to 8pm.  A Mass of Christian burial will be held at St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church, 14720 Annapolis Road, Bowie, MD on Friday, August 23, 2019, at 10:30am with interment to follow at Resurrection Cemetery, Clinton, MD.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the American Cancer Society P.O. Box 22478, Oklahoma City, OK 73123 in honor of Mark.