Mark Joseph Connor, age 84, of Greenville, passed away peacefully on Monday, March 25, 2019. Born in Wilmington, DE in 1934, he was the son of the late Mark and Madeline Connor. Mark and his wife of 60 years, Sara, have lived in the retirement community of Maris Grove in Glen Mills, PA for the past seven years. Mark attended Salesianum High School and graduated from Villanova University in 1956, with a degree in mechanical engineering.
Mark began his career at All American Engineering (AAE), where he met the love of his life, Sara Talley. At AAE, Mark designed aircraft arresting gear systems for the U.S. Military. He then joined Thiokol Chemical Corporation in 1961 and worked in the Rocket Engineering Department on the rocket motor testing program, which was the forerunner of what is now the space shuttle vehicle.
In 1966, Mark joined the E.W. Bliss Corporation’s Advanced Development and Engineering Center (ADEC). While at ADEC, he developed systems to produce small caliber ammunition for the U.S. Military. His contributions to the program were highly successful, resulting in numerous awarded patents. These systems are still operating in the U.S. and other arsenals world-wide. Following retirement, Mark founded IMPEX, a company that supported the manufacturing systems designed and built by ADEC.
Mark was an inventor at heart, always creating new concepts to be used at home or at work. Some of his “more famous” inventions range from the concept of custom-designed “boy” and “girl” diapers; to his “Study Buddy” concept; when he observed his daughters unwilling to study at their desks, to “Sticky Bricks”; a predecessor to the popular kid’s velcro building blocks, to air pump sneakers; later released by Reebok and subsequently Nike.
But Mark’s greatest love was his family, and when asked what the three most important things were in his life, his response would be; #1 Family, #2 Family and #3 Family. He loved spending time with his family whether it be Sunday dinners, attending sporting events to watch the grandkids, or summers at his favorite place, Woodloch Pines. He loved helping with schoolwork and thrived on challenging his kids and grandkids with problems to solve, which led to many of them following his passion for engineering.
Mark is predeceased by his parents Mark F. Connor and Madeline Connor and his daughter, Debbie A. Hobbs. He is survived by his wife Sara E. Connor, his three daughters, Sharon M. Lupinski (Tom), Terri L. Kelly (John), Cindy M. White (Terry). He is also survived by his 11 grandchildren; Tommy Lupinski Jr. (Melissa), Lauren DeHart (Scott), Tyler Hobbs (Katie), Kaitlyn Lupinski, Bryan Kelly, Annie Hobbs, Maddie Kelly, Sara Hobbs, Michael White, Nicole Kelly, Alexis Kelly, as well as 5 great-grandchildren; Connor DeHart, Taylor Lupinski, Alyssa and Adelyn DeHart, and Riley Lupinski.
The family would like to thank the staff at Asana Hospice for their kind and compassionate care.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Dementia Society of America at dementiasociety.org.
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