Mark Stewart Rainwater
Services for Mark Stewart Rainwater, 61, of Monroe, LA, will be held 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 3, 2019, in the chapel of Mulhearn Funeral Home, Hwy. 165 North in Monroe with the Revs. Ricky Nolan and Marcelle Crow officiating. Interment will follow in the Mulhearn Memorial Park Cemetery, Hwy. 80 in Monroe. Visitation was held from 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, July 2, 2019.
Mark Rainwater was born on May 25, 1958, in Monroe, LA, the son of Robert E. and Virginia Bass Rainwater. He died at his home of a short illness, Saturday morning, June 29, 2019.
A locally known radio personality and newspaper reporter/ editor, Rainwater wrote at the request of his wife, Charlotte Rainwater, his own by-lined obituary just a few short years ago. It is edited with the current information added afterward:
By Mark S. Rainwater
Charlotte wanted me to do this, saying she’d never be able to (A) remember all this stuff and (B) bring humor to what for most is a humor-less situation. (I bet this will be the first — and probably last — time you’ll read an autobiographical obituary notice.)
My dear, sweet wife, Charlotte Johnston Rainwater, wants to invite you to a homegoing service at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Mulhearn Funeral Home, US 165 north, with the Revs. Ricky Nolan and Marcelle Crow officiating. A waste of time and money, because the government says this is how it has to be, will follow at Mulhearn’s Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of Mulhearn Funeral Home.
I was born May 25, 1958, the only child of Robert Eugene and Virginia Dare Book Bass Rainwater. Although I was born in 1958, I was BORN AGAIN Dec. 12, 1994, a date I celebrated until my earthly death.
Following graduation from the River Oaks School in 1976, I wasted my parents’ money by enrolling at Louisiana Tech University. After wandering aimlessly for a year after that, I enrolled and actually graduated from the Elkins Institute of Dallas, having studied radio broadcasting.
After 12 years in radio, I began what was really the only career I ever wanted, newspaper journalism.
Other than being an archaeologist, as a kid, I thought getting paid to play in the dirt would be cool. But that required college, and it was quite obvious I was not college material.
Hence, I started getting paid to go to football, basketball, and baseball games … and getting paid to write about it.
I began working as a newspaper reporter in 1990 at The Ouachita Citizen. I next worked as a reporter at The News-Star and later served as editor for the Bastrop Daily Enterprise and The Gazette in Farmerville.
Serving as pallbearers will be the first six to eight guys who show up and are able bodied enough not to drop the pricey box you’ll be carrying me in.
Mark is preceded in death by his parents and brothers, Michael Bass and Lance Bass; and his brother-in-law, Don Johnston.
He is survived by his beloved wife, Charlotte Johnston Rainwater, known to Mark’s friends on Facebook as his Sweetie; two sons, Christopher and Joshua; one daughter, Tanya; two granddaughters, Sophia Rainwater, and Serenity Rainwater; brother, Malcolm Bass and wife Cathy, sister, Mary Bass Gray and husband Eastland; sister, Pam Rainwater Kenyon and husband Randy, brother, Robert Rainwater, Jr. and wife Kathe; 10 nephews and nieces; and his fur babies, Bear and Bella.
Born again Dec. 12, 1994, Mark became an encourager for the love of Christ, sharing his time-tested testimony with family, friends, and strangers alike. He talked and walked the talk and walk of the Lord showing what God can do with one’s life.
Having some difficult times in his own life, Mark was able to use all of those experiences he had been through to minister to others in similar circumstances.
Many relied on his popular, uplifting Facebook posts for that daily scriptural reminder. He never met a stranger. Well, actually, if he did, it was not for long. His quick wit always brought a smile or laugh to those he shared it with.
Unashamedly, he shared not only his love of the Lord, but also that of Charlotte,“Sweetie,” herself a strong woman of God. Their love for one another was often shared publicly in their popular Facebook posts.
Although members of First Baptist Church, West Monroe, Mark and Charlotte’s worship time the last several years was spent Sunday afternoons beneath the Lea Joyner Expressway bridge. There, as part of Hope Street Ministries, they worshipped with and shepherded the homeless living in the area. They call it the “Church without Walls” serving the “least of these.”
When not reporting, Mark was an avid sports fan of anything LSU and the New Orleans Saints. And, his auto racing enthusiasm was unmatched. He enjoyed all genres of music.
An award-winning journalist, Rainwater was the recipient one year of the Louisiana Press Association’s Gibbs Adams Award for Investigative Reporting for a series he did for The Ouachita Citizen on eligibility issues in high school athletics.
Pallbearers will be Sammy Turner, John Crow, Jerry Roark, Rob Gray, Michael Gray, Andrew Gray, Tom Morris and Tommy Futch. Honorary Pallbearers will be George Cannon, Lanny James and Jim Elliott.
In lieu of flowers, Mark’s choice for memorials is Hope Street Ministries “The Church Without Walls,” 1822 Hwy. 552, Downsville, LA 71234.
If you could see me now, I am walking streets of gold.
If you could see me now, I’m happy and I’m whole. If you could see me now, you wouldn’t want me to leave this place.
—”If You Could See Me Now,” written by Russ Lee.
