Mark BURROWS

BURROWS, Mark
Mark passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, at Sunnybrook Palliative Care on December 9, 2017. He is survived by his loving wife, Katsumi and son, Michael; sister Chris (Laurie) Tollefson; sister-in-law Norma Burrows; parents-in-law Hisashi and Makiko Watanabe; sister-in-law Chikako Watanabe; sister-in-law Arata (Kenichi) Sugiura; stepmother Mary Burrows and many nieces and nephews in Canada, Japan and Ireland. Mark was predeceased by his parents, Helen and Harvey and brother Don. Mark was born June 20, 1959 in Winnipeg, MB and lived there until 1970 when the family moved to Saskatoon. He attended Holliston School and Walter Murray Collegiate. He went to the University of Saskatchewan and obtained his Bachelor of Commerce degree. Mark held various jobs prior to moving to Japan to teach English in 1984. While in Japan he met Katsumi Watanabe. He returned to Saskatoon in 1994. Mark and Katsumi were married in June 1996 in Lake Louise, AB. Their pride and joy, Michael, was born in 1999 in Barrie. Mark was a devoted husband and father. They returned to Japan in 2003 for 3 years, moving back to Barrie in 2006, where they resided until his passing. Mark was incredibly proud of the caring young man Michael has grown to be. He enjoyed hanging out with Michael, watching comedy and sports shows. He also enjoyed attending Michael's football games. He was delighted to be able to attend Michael's high school graduation in June 2017. Mark embraced his role as an educator and enjoyed teaching English as a second language both in the classroom and one on one online. Most recently he worked with LINC Home Study and ENGLISHDOM. Mark enjoyed the simple things in life; spending time with family and close friends, baking bread, reading, going for long walks. He had a very unique sense of humour and loved a good joke. He was a loyal Saskatchewan Roughrider fan. Mark was a kind, caring, always optimistic and looked for the good in people and situations. Even when his health deteriorated and he was admitted to Sunnybrook Palliative Care in January 2017 he lived life to the fullest. A Celebration of Life will be held at Parkview Community Centre in Barrie on Sunday, January 7, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. Interment will take place at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens, Saskatoon in the summer of 2018. Memorial donations may be made to Sunnybrook Palliative Care at https://donate.sunnybrook.ca/palliative Expressions of sympathy may be sent to the family by visiting www.hillcrestmemorial.ca