Mark S. Pollock

Mark S. Pollock

1949 - 2021

Longtime Napa Valley attorney, Mark Pollock, 71, died unexpectedly on Wednesday, June 16. In his professional life, he will be remembered as a dedicated legal practitioner, a bold crusader, a raconteur, and the last of a rare and truly irreplaceable breed.

Family and friends remember Mark as extraordinarily energetic and multi-talented, as a vibrant storyteller, an exceptional cook, a powerful Black Belt in Kung Fu karate, a gifted gardener, a lover of dogs, and an accomplished sailor. Ultimately, Mark was a man, who lit up every room that he set foot in.

Mark was born on October 25, 1949 in Burbank, Calif., the first son of Stella and Sol Pollock's three children. Mark attended Burbank High School, graduating in 1967, and from San Francisco State University in the 1970s, and later, San Fernando Valley College of Law, Woodland Hills, Calif, where he was President of the Law Review, and passed the California Bar in 1978.

As a young lawyer, starting out in the Napa Valley, he met his future wife, Alison Head, in Calistoga in 1982. The couple were married in 1989 by Napa County Judge John Quigley, while living on the Napa River in the late 1980s.

Mark joined and worked as a Napa Deputy District Attorney in Jerry Maunter's office while Alison pursued her Ph.D. at nearby U.C. Berkeley. Mark went on to Solano County District Attorney's Office, where he set up the Environmental Crimes unit.

In 1993, he set up a private practice in land use and environmental law in Napa, where Evangeline James joined the firm and later the two became partners in Pollock & James. In the Napa Valley, Mark was active within the legal community, a former president of the Napa Bar Association. and a widely respected litigator and champion of social and environmental causes.

The small firm was widely recognized as leading experts in defense of property owners involved in environmental and land use disputes. More recently they had grown the practice to advising local communities on fighting the stationing of small cell wireless technology.

A man of boundless energy and interests, Mark received his first Black Belt in Karate in August 2008 at the age of 59, the first of five Black Belts earned during his 32 years as a student at West Wind Karate School in Berkeley, Calif.

Mark was deeply creative with a penchant for remodeling and building homes and gardens. In the 1990s, the couple purchased a 13-acre property in Lovall Valley, above the town of Sonoma, building an authentic Palladian villa, designed by Mark and based on their many trips to Italy. For 17 years, the two worked tirelessly on weekends, planting a sweeping Italianate garden with fieldstone terraces. The magical estate became a popular gathering place for family and friends.

In 2013, the couple relocated to Santa Rosa, where they soon undertook a new project, creating a new garden space, replete with outdoor garden rooms, inspired by their volunteer work as volunteers each year in the iconic Sissinghurst Castle Gardens in Kent, England.

He is survived by his wife: Alison Head of Santa Rosa; two siblings, Jeffrey Pollock, Valencia, and Jill Pollock, Pueblo, Colorado; and his beloved rescue dog, Daisy. A private family gathering will be held at a later date. Donations in his memory may be made to your Humane Society, https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Donation2?24225.donation=form1&df_id=24225