Mark Anthony Memorial Page

Mark Anthony Wildermuth SCC#223027 - Columbia, South Carolina
Member of the Sumter, South Carolina Chapter
February 28, 1969 - June 6, 2005
Mark Anthony (as he liked to be called) joined the Southern Cruisers in April 2005, actually purchasing his Valkyrie and joining after admiring a member's bike. Unfortunately, he never had an opportunity to ride with the chapter. Mark Anthony fought for over two weeks before succumbing to injuries from a motorcycle accident on May 20th. That is the type of person he was, he was a fighter.
Mark Anthony graduated from the United States Military Academy, West Point, NY, in 1991. At West Point, he was Brigade boxing champion in his weight class, competed on the Army's intercollegiate boxing team and was Sandhurst military training company captain. After West Point he had a well-decorated Army career, rising to the rank of Major, serving in Korea and in several stateside posts. He was Ranger, Airborne and Expert Infantryman qualified.
At the time of his death, Mark Anthony was an adored college teacher. He was also a competitive ‘B’ level racquetball player who made it to the finals of many tournaments in South Carolina. In the short time Mark Anthony owned his Valkyrie he enjoyed it to the fullest to include attending the Daytona Spring Bike Week. Mark Anthony always had a smile for you and he will be missed.

I met Mark Anthony while playing the amateur racquetball tournament circuit in South Carolina. I never met him on the court, but I refereed many of his matches. He was always professional even when I may have made a call he didn't like. I knew Mark Anthony simply as "Mark" at tournaments. It wasn't till after he joined the chapter that he told me he now preferred to be called "Mark Anthony."

This was one of my worse nightmares for a few of reasons. First, one of my members (and one of my friends) was dead. Second, is how Mark Anthony came to own his bike. I rode my Valkyrie to a racquetball tournament in Columbia on October 23^rd, 2004. I was meeting some other Southern Cruisers that same day to ride around Lake Marion. I had my racquetball stuff strapped on the bike. Mark Anthony saw me in my leathers as I was leaving (since I lost my match and it was a cold morning) and asked about my bike because he thought it was beautiful – Did I mention Mark had good taste? Of course, I went on and on about the Valkyrie.

Well, a few months later I ran into Mark at another tournament in Hartsville (February 5^th, 2005) and he came up to me all excited because he had recently bought his Valkyrie. He said he bought it on e-bay from a guy in Florida and he had flown down to get it. Since he lived in Columbia I gave him one of our cards and told him he should join us sometime. It took in a while, but on April 8^th he filed out his application.

The third reason this is a nightmare for me is how I found out. On Saturday, August 13th, 2005 I sent Mark Anthony an e-mail asking why he hadn’t joined us and gave him a week to let me know if he was still interested. On August 20th, 2005, I was reviewing those e-mails I had sent the week prior and since it was too late to call him, on a whim (maybe a gut feeling) I Googled “Mark Anthony Wildermuth” – how many could there be?

One of the links I found was “In loving memory of Mark Anthony Wildermuth” – my heart sank. The link included a picture of Mark Anthony so I was sure it is him. To make matters worse (for me), Mark Anthony died “in a bad motorcycle accident.”

My deepest regret is that more of you couldn’t have met Mark Anthony…please take the time to read the following about this dynamic individual…A great American.

Follow up from Zeke

I sent a lot of e-mails after I found out about Mark Anthony's accident. I wanted some answers to some questions. I haven't involved any members of the family out of respects although I do have addresses for his mother and a sister. All I have been able to find out so far is that Mark Anthony was going home after work on Friday, May 20th. His accident was listed as a hit and run, but I'm starting to accept that the details are sketchy so no one may know what really happened.

I also know funeral services were held June 11th at St. John's Lutheran Church, 120 West Water St., Sidney, OH 45365. This is Mark Anthony's final resting place.

- Mark Anthony was known as "Tony" during his time at West Point
- "Tony" was "a master of the truly uncommon"
- He was very popular at Sidney High School in Sidney, OH
- He has also been known as "Muth", "Moot", and "Wilderbeast"

The last two weeks have been sad ones for those of us who knew Mark Wildermuth from Midlands Technical College in Columbia, SC. Mark had a bad motorcycle accident two weekends ago and passed away Monday, June 6.

Mark had quite a life in his 36 years. Many of us did not know he graduated from the United States Military Academy, West Point, NY, in 1991. At West Point, he was Brigade boxing champion in his weight class, competed on the Army's intercollegiate boxing team and was Sandhurst military training company captain. After West Point he had a well-decorated Army career, rising to the rank of Major, serving in Korea and in several stateside posts. He was Ranger, Airborne and Expert Infantryman qualified.

I first met Mark five years ago when he started at Midlands and was working to create a Telecommunications degree program. In September 2001 Midlands, with Mark as PI, received a grant from the NSF to adapt and implement the NCTT telecommunications education program and our formal relationship was launched. Mark and others including Keith Quigley worked hard to build an exceptional program and over the grant adapted the NCTT curriculum to include a pre-telecommunications technologies component delivered by secondary teachers to local SC high schools. Laboratories were designed to house the appropriate equipment, and Midlands ensured the ongoing operation and continued support for the work. In addition to articulated course work in telecommunications in local high schools, the project facilitated the professional growth and development of college and high school instructors as well as recruiting, retaining, graduating, and placing students in good jobs.

Two years ago, with Mark's leadership, Midlands became one of the original NCTT Regional Partners. Mark was an active participant in the NCTT group, always willing to share his technical and leadership skills. He also like to have fun and could always get us laughing. Marks work can be found at: http://www.midlandstech.edu/telecommunications/default.html. A wonderful person who I will miss greatly.