Mark Lanier

Mark Lanier

Brookline, MA - The sudden death of Mark Lanier, 60, on February 13, 2019 came as a heartbreaking surprise to family and friends. Mark was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to Lloyd Addison and Melissa Emery Lanier, who predeceased him. He graduated from Cincinnati Country Day School, where he is remembered as a scholar and athlete, for being a loyal friend and for wearing the same skinny tie, day-in and day-out for six years. He graduated magna cum laude from Williams College, earned a Masters in English Literature from Oxford University, England, and an MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. He worked for T. Rowe Price before business school and later worked at Grumman Hill, LLC for Richard D. Irwin, whom he considered a mentor and then a longtime friend and co-investor. Mark formed and ran Pegasus Capital, a hedge fund that has invested successfully in small cap companies. Mark also served on the boards of Thos. Emery's Sons, Inc. and Scinet Development & Holdings, Inc. Mark was passionate about a few chosen volunteer activities. He loved his close friendships with and his leadership roles alongside generations of Brothers and Sisters of his Uncle Tony. He devoted hundreds of hours each year to his work with Clubhouse International whose Executive Director, Joel Corcoran, described Mark as "an extraordinary advocate for people living with serious mental illness and a familiar face at Clubhouse programs on six continents." While serving as Clubhouse International's Chairman, the organization received the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Award, the single largest humanitarian award in the world, given to a non-profit judged to have made significant contributions to alleviating human suffering. Mark's interest in residential programs for people with mental illness began with his service on the board of Laurel House, in Stamford, CT and continued the rest of his life. Mark's additional interests were so varied and esoteric that friends and family were caught in an awkward tension between wanting desperately to learn about his newest hobbies and, on the other hand, knowing that we would be thoroughly baffled, once we knew. Mark joined the American Bonsai Society, so that he could join them on a trip to Japan. He became very serious about the study of cheeses and would happily lecture the uninitiated. Long after his considerable weight reached a point where he no longer played active sports, Mark could be found walking rocky river beds throughout the U.S., wearing blue jean overalls and leaning on a sturdy walking stick, in search of Suiseki rocks, expressive stones deserving of appreciation. Although he traveled repeatedly to Scandinavia, his favorite city was Kyoto. Mark studied the accordion and guitar. He joyfully curated recorded music of many kinds for family and friends. He cooked thoughtfully and generously. He had exceptional gifts of relationship, which were appreciated by old friends and by people he had just met. He enjoyed the strict rigors of writing Haiku. Yet, at same time, splitting infinitives and ending sentences with prepositions were things he was OK with. Mark loved his children, family and friends. He is survived by his children, Henry Anson Lanier, Spenser Cole Lanier, Lillian Avery Lanier and Samuel Elias Lanier, by his former wife Kirsten Olsen, by his siblings Addison Lanier II (Jamie), John Emery Lanier (Jane Garvey) and Melissa Lanier Murphy (Shenan), and by numerous nieces and nephews who love, enjoyed and will miss him. A Celebration of Life gathering will take place, in Boston, later in March. Donations in Mark's memory may be made to Clubhouse International at https://clubhouse-intl.org/get-involved/ways-to-give/ or by sending a check to 483 Tenth Avenue, Suite 205, New York, NY 10018.