James Mark

My name is James Mark. I am the author of the "Divine Mercy Chaplet - a Deep Meditations." I am 75 years old. My wife and I have 2 children and 5 grandchildren (one by adoption and one through marriage). I now live in a small rural town about 20 miles south of Joliet, Illinois. I attended high school and first year college in the Chicago Diocese's minor seminary. I left the seminary and graduated from College in Rural Southern Illinois. After graduation I spent 2 years in the Peace Corps in...See more

My name is James Mark. I am the author of the "Divine Mercy Chaplet - a Deep Meditations." I am 75 years old. My wife and I have 2 children and 5 grandchildren (one by adoption and one through marriage). I now live in a small rural town about 20 miles south of Joliet, Illinois. I attended high school and first year college in the Chicago Diocese's minor seminary. I left the seminary and graduated from College in Rural Southern Illinois. After graduation I spent 2 years in the Peace Corps in Malaysia on the Island of Borneo. My Peace Corps training was in Hawaii for three months. There I learned the Malay language, customs and about tuberculosis, a very common and deadly disease in Malaysia at that time. When I finally arrived in Malaysia I worked in hospitals and clinics. I worked in the lab identifying samples that may contain the tuberculosis germ or not. Later I went out into the field and helped vaccinate children against the disease. The cure for tuberculosis at that time required taking 3 medications for two years. Many times, people would not come to the clinic to get their monthly supply of meds, so I would drive on my motorcycle to the kampongs to make sure they had their meds. One time at the local school the science teacher had to leave so I filled in for about a month as well as doing my duties in the clinic when I returned to America, I attended Illinois State University where I earned a master's degree in Special Education. It was also where I met my wife, Donna. I taught in Sp.Ed. classrooms for 27 years before retiring. After retiring from teaching I started a small lawn mowing business and helped out at my local parish, Immaculate Conception. There I am a teacher of religious education, lector, Eucharistic Minister, and help with general maintenance of the parish from time to time. See less