Memories from James Harward a friend and former work associate

Here are some memories from James Harward a friend and former work associate

"I worked with Mark for years at Sprinkler World. One of his quirks that always made me laugh was his pushing his sleeves up above his biceps. If a sleeve would work its way down, he would quickly push it back up. When we heard of Marks passing, us boys at the Sprinkler World in Orem, pushed up our sleeves in honer of Mark. We had to give it up quickly because we all lacked the biceps to hold our sleeves up.

Mark always used the word stewardship. He would come up to me and say, "James, I have a stewardship for you." I think I must have been thirteen, or fourteen when one of my stewardship's was to clean the bathrooms at our Spanish Fork store. He showed me what to do, and gave me a few different cleaners. I pointed at a particular stain and asked what would be best to get it cleaned. He told me that with that stain, I would "just have to use elbow grease." Well, seeing as though we were a store that sells parts called elbows, and pipe lubes, and glues, I began my search for elbow grease. After about a half hour of searching, Mark tracked me down and asked me what I had been doing the entire time. I told him I couldn't find any elbow grease. While the other workers had their fun teasing the bosses dumb kid, Mark put his arm around my shoulder, and explained to me, while walking me back to the bathroom, that "elbow grease" meant that I would have to work hard at it.

Mark was always kind to me. Yes he would tease me at times, but with Mark you didn't feel made fun of. While most other adults naturally talk down to teenagers, Mark had a way of making you feel like he did care. I always appreciated that.

One last story. One day, with a store full of customers, Mark got on the intercom and said, "I'd like to bare my testimony, that I know Sprinkler World is true, and it is the only true sprinkler store..." He continued on in testimony fashion talking about our store. That is the quirky Mark we all loved. Even though Mark "apostatized" from Sprinkler World, and went to work for other sprinkler stores, we all loved him. I want to say that in behalf of all the Harwards. How could we not continue to love him. I don't know many men that had such a talent of bringing happiness with them everywhere they went. I don't think I've known many men that represent kindness, the way he did. He was a man that had morals and beliefs, and he lived them. He used those beliefs to benefit my life and many others. I did not know he had a title, but I know it well now. I can't think of him as anything but "Mark The Great.""