Mark Vancas, former National Archery Association President, passed away last month after a long battle with cholangiocarcinoma. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him, especially his archery family.
Mark was born in 1947 in Deadwood, South Dakota, where his love of archery began at an early age. He competed on the University of Arizona archery team, where he met his wife, Susan. Together, they earned All-American honors for three of their four years on the team. A highlight of Mark's competitive years competing in the U.S. Olympic Archery Team Trials.
In addition to an impressive resume of giving back to the archery community, Mark also received a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1970 from the University of Arizona, and established a distinguished life long career in the mining industry, which spanned the globe.
In 1978, Mark was awarded the Arizona State Archery Association's Toxophilite of the Year Award. Mark was an integral part of the development of the state archery association in Arizona.
"Mark gave so much to the archery community," shared USA Archery CEO Denise Parker. "We will forever be grateful for his contributions to the sport and share our deepest condolences with his family."
Mark's wife, Susan shared that Mark lived two years beyond predictions from his surgeon and made great use of those two years, starting to build their dream home for their family. Susan shared: "It would be great to see some archery friends again and archery was such a large part of Mark's life." There will be a celebration of life ceremony for Mark on February 25th from 2-5pm at the Westward Look Resort on Ina Road in Tucson, Arizona.
Some information attributed to CopperArea.com.
< Back to All News
