Mark Dana Needell

Mark Dana Needell was born December 28, 1948 in New York to Novella DeFazio Smith and Burton P. Needell. He died December 30, 2024 in New Albany, Indiana. He passed peacefully with family members by his side.

He is survived by his wife of 15 years, Mary Lynn (née Ritchey), and his bonus children, Teri (Billy), Daryl (Amy), Brandy (Russell), Robert (Charity), and grandchildren, Nathan, Seth, Abby, Mackenzie, and Addilyn; His surviving aunts and uncles are Annette Bergins, Thomas and Sally DeFazio, and Vilma Belden; His siblings are brother Jeff (Fatima), and his sisters Karen (and her former spouse, Scott), and Jannette (and her former spouse, John); Nephews and nieces are Gabriel (Lindsay), Rosemary (Aaron), Renata, Elena (Abraham), Ethan, and Michael; Great-nephew and nieces are Liam, Ella, and Leilani; Cousins include not only Barbara, Allan, Richard, Gerry, Charlie, Orrin, James and their families, but numerous others from the Needell and DeFazio families.

Mark and his immediate family moved to Los Angeles from New York in the early 1950s and then to the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1960s, after his mother and stepfather, Charles Belden, married and his sisters, Karen and Jannette were born. 

He graduated from San Leandro High School in 1966, left for Los Angeles to live with his father, and, then, joined the Navy. He served a tour in Vietnam. Afterward, he returned briefly to Los Angeles, then the Bay Area. He attended California State University at Hayward, where he cultivated his passion for the arts. He was an excellent portrait artist, but his focus was ceramics, ranging from striking cups and bowls to sculpture that was extraordinary. He ranged through other pleasures as well, from cooking and wine-making to gardening, music, wide-ranging reading, and fishing. 

He lived for many years in Hayward, San Leandro, and Crockett. He made a living working in a specialized chemical factory, where he batched chemicals into compounds and then transported them to customers in the Bay Area region. He was a member of the Joaquin Murrieta E Clampus Vitus, Chapter 13.

After retirement, Mark and Lynn moved to New Albany, Indiana, in 2017. He spent his last years making art, collecting, and enjoying his grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life is scheduled for January 23, 2025 from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the VFW, 1919 Grant Line Road, New Albany, Indiana. (A second celebration will be held in the San Francisco Bay Area, date to be determined).

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Peggy’s Place (New Albany), The Waters of Scottsburg attn Memory Care (Scottsburg), Green Valley Care Center attn Memory Care 400 (New Albany). The thoughtful and kind attention of Mark’s nurses and caregivers is greatly appreciated by his family.