Mark W. Stevens, November 20, 1946 - January 7, 2026

Mark W. Stevens of Huntington Station, New York passed away on January 7, 2026 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Linda Stevens; children, Jennifer Stevens, Gina (Kevin) Leiter and Anthony (Jackie) Stevens; grandchildren Graham and Katherine Gooch, Emma and Madeline Leiter, Matthew and Ryan Stevens; brother Roger (Judy) Stevens; and many nieces, nephews and family members. In lieu of sending flowers, please consider making a donation to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

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A tribute from his children: 

It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of our beloved father, Mark W. Stevens, on January 7, 2026. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease over ten years ago, our dad fought hard and stayed strong to slow the progression of the disease. It ultimately robbed him of his voice and movement these past two years, but amazingly, with God’s grace, he kept his good humor and a twinkle in his eyes throughout.

The middle child of Erdie Stevens, U.S. Army Captain and photographer, and Florence Stevens, Dad arrived at Fitzsimons Army Hospital on November 20, 1946. Born with a sweet disposition, he was often the subject of our grandfather’s photography along with older brother Robert and younger brother Roger. After a few moves across the country, the Stevens family settled in the suburbs of Denver, where Dad spent most of his childhood and attended Aurora Central High School. 

Dad always said the best decision of his life was attending Colorado State University. Not only did he earn a degree in the growing field of computer science, it’s where he met our mother, Linda Nigro, the love of his life. Smitten from day one, Dad asked our mother out a few more times before she finally agreed to go on a date. After several more dates, including an on-campus Simon and Garfunkel concert, they became “steadies” and fell in love, a loving partnership that lasted for over 55 years.

After graduating in 1969, with the Vietnam War still underway, Dad enlisted in the United States Army. While Mom stayed at CSU to finish her teaching degree, Dad completed basic training and applied for Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. His degree in data processing proved valuable as the Army kept sending him for more technical training, which delayed his shipment overseas. By the time he graduated, the government was pulling troops out of the war. Dad was commissioned as a First Lieutenant and was assigned to the Pentagon in Washington, DC to work in its computer data center.

On September 5, 1970, our parents were married in Huntington, our mother’s hometown, and moved to Alexandria, VA, a few miles from the Pentagon. They returned to Huntington when I was born in 1972. My sister Gina was born a year later, and our brother, Anthony, a few years later.

To say Dad was a hands-on father would be an understatement. He relished every stage of parenting from baby bottles to college dorm move-ins and everything in between. An avid sports fan, Dad taught us how to play baseball/softball, how to shoot a basket, how to ski, and his personal favorite, how to waterski. Throughout our teen years, he taught dozens of our friends how to waterski. He was an awesome slalom waterskier. He could cut through the wake with a roostertail spray shooting behind him while smiling and telling us to “go faster.” In retirement, Dad started a Wednesday night waterski club for his over-60 friends. Newsday actually featured them in the Sunday section of the newspaper.

Dad worked as hard as he played. In 1972, he joined M&M Vending, a business that our mother’s father and uncles started post World War II. They provided jukeboxes, pinball machines, pool tables and cigarette machines to Long Island bars and restaurants. In the ‘80s, with Asteroids, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and other popular video games on the scene, Dad’s computer skills came in handy yet again. Trained to fix the games’ computer boards, he became the lead technician and later a business partner, helping to run M&M with our uncles and other family members until retirement. We like to joke that Dad went to Pac-Man school – but he actually did! He loved his job. It was challenging. It was exciting. Installing jukeboxes for a living, he knew every new song on the Billboard charts. But best of all, it allowed him to be home for dinner every night, especially when we were little, even if he had to go back out on the road for a night shift. As we got older, it afforded him the flexibility to watch all of our games in high school.

Distilling a man’s character into a few words is very difficult, but when we think of Dad, Gina, Anthony and I are united in our description: patient, calm and joyful. 

Dad had the patience of a saint. Nothing rattled him. Not even a trip to Florida in the family station wagon packed to the gills Clark Griswold-style with Mom, his three kids and two nephews. He just laughed every time our cousin Patrick asked, “Are we there yet, Uncle Mark?” He was calm no matter the problem. A Rube Goldberg project for Physics class due tomorrow? No problem. Let’s start mapping it out. A U-Haul trailer filled with college stuff coming detached from the car on the expressway? No problem. Let’s put our hazards on and slow this sucker down.

Everything he learned or accomplished was through his own drive and initiative. In high school, he wanted to learn to ski. So he and his friends saved up to take the train from downtown Denver to Winter Park Ski Resort in the mountains and learned to ski. The first in his family to go to college, Dad took out loans and worked campus jobs to pay his way through school. 

He was genuinely one of the happiest Midwestern transplants on Long Island. He would often say, “Can you believe how close we live to the ocean?” He couldn’t believe how warm and welcoming our mother’s family was. The fact that we could drive to a Yankees game – a team he rooted for as a kid – was such a thrill for him. 

But perhaps his greatest thrill was becoming a grandfather. Together with Mom, he was there for all the milestone moments from christenings, first communions, school concerts, birthdays and holidays. They babysat together. They cheered at scores of little league games and soccer matches. Knowing that Graham (16), Matthew (14), Katherine (13), Emma (13), Ryan (12) and Madeline (11) all learned to ski was just icing on the cake for Dad.  

So as we were saying goodbye to our father this week, we found ourselves repeating the words he said to us throughout our childhood: “You did great! We’re so proud of you. We love you.” 

- Jennifer, Gina and Anthony