Mark G Behrens

Mark G Behrens, 74, of Lawton, Michigan, passed away from this earth into the presence of his lord and savior Jesus Christ on 11/20/2024 after a short bout with cancer. Mark was born in Kalamazoo, MI to the late Lloyd “Mick” and Stella “Mae” Behrens [Visscher] on 11/6/1950. He was a model of faith, integrity, clear thinking, wise provision, perseverance, kindness and courtesy to all who had the privilege of knowing him. Mark is survived by his wife of 53 years, Joan Behrens [Steffey], their children Kevin (Lorie) Behrens and Keith (Lynn) Behrens, and his beloved grandchildren Kora (Ben Taylor), Mary, Owen, Rosa (Kevin & Lorie), Lily, Addison, Taylor and Henley (Keith & Lynn). He is also survived by his brother Joel (Valerie). Visitation is Saturday Dec. 7th, 12 to 2pm at Calvary Chapel, 5331 S. Sprinkle, Portage – the old Harley dealership.  An informal service will follow at 2pm. 

In lieu of flowers, consider
donating to Kairos Dwelling.

Please view photos and share your
memories in the guest book below.

Life Story

Mark G Behrens was born on 11/6/1950, the first son of Lloyd “Mick” and Stella “Mae” (Visscher) Behrens. Mick, an affable World War II naval combat veteran, worked various trucking jobs before settling into a career in sales. Mae, the daughter of Dutch immigrants, worked as a secretary prior to Mark’s birth. She was known for her striking beauty, sense of style, and immaculately kept house.

Mick and Mae grew their family in Royal Oak, where Mark enjoyed a free range childhood with the neighborhood boys. This was a culture of pick-up ball games, mumbley-peg with real knives, and shooting immies or aggies (not “marbles”) as soon as the ground thawed – all done just so, according to the local code of honor. Mark would later taunt a son with his memory of grinding up many classic baseball cards in the spokes of his bike, just to create the proper sound effect.

Even as a preschooler, Mark left no doubt about his mechanical interests and talents, disassembling anything within his reach. By late elementary school, he developed a reputation for fixing bikes and push mowers. The family moved to the Kalamazoo area in 1962, with little brother Joel being 6 years old. Mark followed in his dad’s footsteps, playing both basketball and baseball. On Parchment Little League’s “Plate Craft” team in ‘62 and ‘63, Mick coached and the team also featured future big leaguer Mike Squires. By 1963, Mark was center fielder, and one of Plate Craft’s three all-stars.

Mark was a boy, and man, of broad interests and aptitudes, including guitar, sailing, snorkeling, skiing, electronics, shortwave radio, log home construction, photography and American history. Beyond technical skills, he enjoyed considering what makes people tick, and saw himself as a lifelong amateur psychologist (partly as a defensive interpersonal tool). His dream career would have been photojournalism, but as life unfolded, he did not find that field to be moving in a compatible direction.

Throughout his life, Mark found occasions to apply his mechanical and aesthetic skills to the upkeep and operation of mopeds, mini bikes, Yamaha motorcycles, a Ford Mustang, a dune-ready Ford Bronco, a custom-trimmed Jeep CJ7, Arctic Cat snowmobiles, a Harley motorcycle, and diesel pickups. Despite his enjoyment of these machines, the pattern of Mark’s life was to make his personal projects family-compatible and readily sell them off whenever the need arose to put time and money into other priorities.

While on a motorcycle tour with high school friends in the summer of 1968, he stopped at Mesick Trailer Park in northern Michigan, and was struck by the sight of Joan Steffey. At this point, Mark’s thoughts about relationship were not yet based on a spiritual framework: "I liked what I saw, and she was looking at me.” Yet God’s providence prevailed, as the two quickly discovered common ground in their outlook on life, what they aspired to, and what they aimed to avoid. 

At age 19, Mark enrolled in the Coast Guard. However, he was unable to complete boot camp due to a knee condition. This was a great disappointment to him, due to his affinity for the open water and sense of responsibility to his country and peers. Yet the hardships of boot camp and subsequent recovery time served a greater purpose after Mark opened up a New Testament. Reading the gospels and then the epistles, he found a convincing explanation and remedy for the world’s brokenness. Receiving the words and example of Jesus resulted in a new heart which first manifested in an unexpected freedom from bitterness and an ability to forgive. Over the next several years, Mark privately examined himself and his world through reading God’s Word with these newfound spiritual eyes.

Considering his options in March 1971, Mark decided he would either marry Joan or move to California. Ever a proponent of putting one's cards on the table for practical determinations, he phoned to inform her of this fork in the road. Joan asked for a day to think it over, but called back with her answer within 10 minutes. They were married two weeks later, just shy of her 19th birthday. 

Shrugging off expectations and perceptions, the newlyweds moved to a suburb of Cleveland, OH where Mark would take a delivery job with his uncle’s plastic mold-making company. Joan worked the late shift at restaurants, and the couple gradually set aside some savings while furnishing their apartment with little more than a bed and a salvaged whiskey barrel. It was a time of hard work and good sense of humor. One highlight that stemmed from Mark’s delivery runs was an encounter with a manufacturing engineer responsible for the initial production of Saran Wrap. After spotting this nice looking young couple, he insisted on taking them out to dinner. There he shared some valuable wisdom for life, including not to let work make you a stranger to your spouse.

The Behrens family moved back to Kalamazoo in 1972, with Mark and Joan each taking a job with Upjohn. Although this was considered to be a “set for life” employer, the nature of the assembly work and closed doors for maintenance apprenticeships were not a good match to Mark’s skills. Mark and Joan’s first child, Kevin, was born in spring 1975. He was well-loved, and two years later a solid spiritual foundation was cemented as both Mark and Joan confessed their faith in Jesus Christ to be forgiven and saved from their sin, dedicating their life and family to his authority. Beginning at this time, the radio ministry of J. Vernon McGee was a great help and encouragement in understanding and applying Bible truths. Mark's core message was that God’s grace is freely available to all; the ground is level at the foot of the cross.

Later in 1977, the family moved to Indianapolis so Mark could enroll in ITT Tech for HVAC. This located them near the residence of his parents: a move which brought great blessing for the whole extended family, as Mick and Mae showered their affection on this first grandchild while receiving support from Mark and Joan at a time of unexpected medical need. After graduation, Mark was offered a rewarding and interesting installation and remote service job with the Trane company. Since that would have required long stints away from home, he decided to turn it down for a more mundane local position – a value judgment which has yielded blessings to two generations and counting.

Moving back to Kalamazoo in 1979, Mark took a job with Metzger’s Heating and Cooling, then moved onto the technical maintenance crew of Portage Public Schools, where he would install, troubleshoot, and maintain HVAC systems for over 32 years. Mark specialized in custom-designed pneumatic control systems, but also oversaw the transition to electronic controls. On the crew, he emerged as the go-to guy for any question a co-worker may have, whether technical, personal or spiritual. As a former teammate recently stated, everyone knew what kind of a man he was – a completely reliable straight shooter who would do whatever it takes to solve a problem. This recognition is echoed by an extended family member, who developed his own view of Mark as “a man of few words because he chose his words carefully to be thoughtful, genuine and impactful.”

The 1980s were a decade of growth for the Behrens family, with Kevin barely off to school before the arrival of Keith in summer 1981. During these years, Mark and Joan made lifestyle sacrifices to give their boys the benefit of a full-time mom and Christian schooling. One sacrifice was the decision to move the family into the home of Joan’s mom, Jessie. This allowed them to more efficiently support her home repair and maintenance needs while gaining ground in the single-income finances. It also established a precedent for embracing the multi-generational household, with all its benefits and difficulties – a pattern which was eventually followed in various forms by both boys with their own families.

Through much of Mark’s life and most prominently in the 1980s and 90s, he embraced a “cowboy” style, often supplementing his full beard with western boots, a full brim leather hat, and prominent belt buckle. His “dress shirt” would feature a string tie. We understood that he identified with the freedom and beauty of the open range, the self-sufficiency and down to earth humility of the rugged individual, and the moral code and clarity associated with that culture’s best examples. In spite of his chosen persona, Mark did not force his interests and preferences on his family. His approach was to give his boys both an open door into his interests and support in discovering their own. As a result, in due time he would find himself immersed in Lego building, baseball coaching, personal computer configuration, antenna setup, R/C car optimization or woodworking.

Mark carried a great deal of unspoken observations and griefs, and sometimes the gravity of this load led him to pull back from friendships or social settings that were not meshing with his inner compass. In spite of an unshakable faith and hope in the sufficiency of Jesus’ saving blood, his personal standards of utter authenticity made it very hard to find men able to maintain his trust and confidence for regular Christian teaching and fellowship. Occasionally his private convictions and situational analysis, so patiently held, would flare out in an abrupt statement with little warning. We can easily count on two hands the men who were close friends for a significant period of time, each important in their season and each calling to mind scenes of work together, long talks and the occasional uproarious laughter. In each phase of his life that we are aware of, Mark carried himself in a way that warranted a great deal of respect. Yet he often struggled to grasp and optimally utilize that respect which he had earned.

After retirement, Mark found a second line of work in helping his younger son, Keith, equip a shop for the fabrication of custom cabinets and doors. At two different locations, Mark’s expertise was instrumental to install electrical circuits, calibrate newly purchased machines and perform timely repairs or parts acquisition to keep the orders moving. Mark and Keith put in some very long days together – in the shop, doing home repairs or cutting firewood. He treasured these times with his son and in his steady, low-key way, served as an excellent teacher – about how to use tools, but also about how to treat people with consideration and honor.

Mark and Joan’s love for their grandchildren is unsurpassed, and Mark would frequently use his RV camper arrangements as a way to host Kevin’s children for “grandma camp.” Here individual grandchildren would enjoy his “supporting role” of steady good will, wry sense of humor, and grandfatherly trips to Culver’s. He was pleased to live out his final year in Keith’s household, in the company of his other loving granddaughters. Mark passed away from this earth and into the presence of his lord and savior Jesus Christ, on the morning of 11/20/2024. 

We can wish that he would have found more ways to shed his faith, wisdom, practical stewardship and co-worker camaraderie on many others, and lived longer in doing so. Yet we stand incredibly grateful and responsible as those who received the full measure of these blessings. Words fall short to describe our satisfaction at knowing, with every assurance in our spirit and Mark’s own, that this man who so appreciated integrity, quality and honest dealings has now been drafted into God’s documentary maintenance crew – one pleased to confirm that all systems are proving optimally designed, properly installed and fully operational. Not a single moving part (animate or inanimate) is worn out, threatened, or disregarded, so the tool belt is light. An eternity awaits for our favorite photojournalist to apply his renewed mind and incorruptible body to the task of documenting the new creation – and take utter satisfaction in laying those observations at the feet of his boss, our creator who does all things well. 

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
   Romans 10:9-10

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”
    Revelation 21:1-7  

The Behrens family is being cared for by the Avink, McCowen & Secord Funeral Home and Cremation Society, 129 South Grand, Schoolcraft, MI 49087 (269) 679-5622.