Mark Richard Purves

Mark Richard Purves | March 14, 1977 – September 18, 2023

I have learned bitterly, from experience, not to trespass onto the affections of Jane Austen enthusiasts.
– Mark R. Purves

I was not separated from people,
grief and pity joined us.
We forget— I kept saying — that we are all children of the King.

For where we come from there is no division
into Yes and No, into is, was, and will be.

We were miserable, we used no more than a hundredth part
of the gift we received for our long journey. …

I knew, always, that I would be a worker in the vineyard,
as are all men and women living at the same time,
whether they are aware of it or not.

– Czesław Miłosz, “Late Ripeness”

When Brigham Young University awarded Dr. Mark Richard Purves an Alcuin Award in 2016—a recognition reserved for those faculty whom the university deems to have brought about “far-reaching educational renewal”—the biographer had his number: “Since 1993, Mark has been a member of the International Sinatra Society, something understood by his loved ones only—especially his mother, an unrepentant Sinatraphile.”

And so it was that in Davis, California on March 14, 1977, Marsha Purves gave birth to Mark, her fourth of five children. Fourth of five sounds tiring, and those who know Mark suspect that he might have been a tiring child. Charming, but tiring. Preceded by his brothers Steve and Scott as well as his sister Amy, Mark and his siblings were soon joined by Chris and together they grew up in a home that they uniformly identify as full of love and good things. Raconteurs and good-natured cynics all, the Purves clan somehow does not extend its detached scepticism to the family itself, its goodness creating bonds too strong and long-lasting to be easily corroded. The bond extends even to the name of the family business: Purves and Associates.

Mark held his father George in special, remarkably unblemished esteem. When reflecting on George, Mark sometimes told of an incident that accompanied George’s call as the local bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Davis. A senior local leader, the stake president, extended the call to George and Marsha together with a request that George shave the beard that was a signature of his adult life. George expressed enthusiasm for the call and puzzlement at the request. The stake president remained adamant. At this point in the story Mark would look at you with a “can-you-believe-this” expression, and then go on to relate that his father showed up on Sunday morning clean shaven. For Mark what stood out was not the silly caprice of the request but his father’s faith to see through the whim to a real Christianity, a willingness to endure human frailty in view of something much greater. George served as a clean-shaven bishop for many years and the beard never returned.

In his childhood Mark developed a love and talent for tennis and later waxed lyrical on the sport in a manner reminiscent of David Foster Wallace. As a student at Davis Senior High School, he developed his dramatic chops in madrigals, jazz choir, and as Harold Hill in The Music Man (all of which sound like things that mature Mark would have mocked). Graduating in 1995, Mark enrolled in Ricks College (now BYU Idaho), where he spent the first year of his university education. Despite an incident in a fast food restaurant involving wild friends, a baby high chair, and a police warning, Mark finished out the year and received a call to serve as a full-time volunteer missionary in the Russia Yekaterinburg Mission for the Church.

Mark’s two-year service in Russia from 1997 to 1999 changed his life and reordered his mind. The people, the language, the history, the culture, the cuisine, the landscapes, the literature, he embraced all of it and it became part of him. During his service he received a call to follow in George’s footsteps and served as a branch president (the small-congregation equivalent of a bishop) for 17 of his mission’s 24 months. An uncommon mark of trust from his leaders and of maturity and ability from a young man barely 20 years old.

The most fateful legacy that Mark brought back from Russia was his nascent love for Ann Pickett, a fellow missionary. Mark and Ann married in the Oakland California Temple of the Church in 1999. Together they enrolled at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, igniting Mark’s long-lasting love for the institution where he completed an MA in English and Russian in 2001. From BYU, Mark proceeded on to achieve a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literature from the University of Virginia.

BYU recognised Mark’s talent early and wanted him back so keenly that it hired him as an associate professor and had him commence a full class load in 2006, a full year before he successfully defended his dissertation and achieved his PhD in 2007. His bio at the time BYU granted him the Alcuin Award in 2016 records that he was associate professor of Russian and head of the Russian section in the Department of German and Russian. The bio continues: “Mark began teaching courses at BYU ranging from second- and third-year Russian grammar to classes dealing with the works of authors such as Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Vladimir Nabokov. His primary research interest is Anton Chekhov, about whom Mark has written in a variety of Slavic journals, Contemporary Literature and Culture and Modern Drama.” The part about Chekhov is not quite true, as Mark would aver that writers pretend to like Chekhov while holding deeper personal affinity for Tolstoy, Nabokov, and others.

Mark’s involuntary departure from BYU in the autumn of 2022 was a source of both confusion and pain for him and those who knew and loved him. Despite sharp disagreement with those who made the final decision for the institution, Mark somehow managed like George to see past injustice and frailty and separate vagary from higher ideals.

The greatest source of joy in Mark’s life were his five children: Eleanor (22), Ada (20), Charlotte (17), Declan (13), and Malcolm (11). As a father, he gave as good as he got. He shared his knowledge and love of literature and music. Played catch. Braided hair. Made meals. Cracked jokes. Sometimes had to be stern. Sometimes got upset. Cracked more jokes. And on it went.

Last year Mark coached Declan’s baseball team to a championship win. On Instagram, which he used only occasionally, Mark recorded on June 26, 2022: “Pride prevents me from not sharing, apologies. Last night Declan had nine strikeouts to lead his Angels to a 8-7 win over the loathsome Yankees. We won the Orem City Championship. This is a win for grit, humility and hard work. He practices all the time; he throws late into the night. He was also named starting pitcher for the All-Star team; some hefty weirdo with untameable hair will be coaching him.” Mark felt equal love and pride for each of his children.

But life was not all championships, it never is. Mark struggled for years with deep depression, and sometimes the remedy at hand was alcohol. His family knew this too well, and so did his close friends and Church leaders. Mark was always transparent and upfront, and he tried to throw off his burdens. Sometimes he was successful, sometimes very much not. Mark tried and kept trying for a long time. When his marriage to Ann ended in 2020, they both found ways to continue parenting together in as much love and respect as extremity can afford.

Despite lasting burdens, Mark continued to serve in the Church following his mission until his last days. He encouraged his children to faith and participation. In this he both reflected his own faith and honored that of his parents, who predeceased him in 2018 for Marsha and 2019 for George. In 2018 and 2019, Mark served as first counsellor to Bishop Douglas Kleven of the Edgemont 12th Ward. Mark’s final Church responsibility, fitting for a championship baseball coach, was advisor to 12-and-13-year-old deacons.

Taking stock of such a life, we might conclude: love one another. Serve. Learn. Read. Share. Enjoy good music and good things. Express yourself in different languages. Learn jokes. Tell jokes. Look past human frailty to see the bigger picture. Find those who are suffering. And, for the sake of a loving God who gives us life: when suffering, please seek out trusted family and friends to get help.

Memorial services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 23, 2023 at the Rock Canyon Chapel, 3050 Mojave Lane, Provo, Utah. Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.bergmortuary.com.