Mark Richard Hanschka of Sunriver and Portland, Ore., died on June 1 following a brief illness. He was 80. In his youth, he was a frequent summer visitor to East Chop, and maintained a lifelong connection to Martha’s Vineyard through his family here.
A dedicated doctor, Mark was also an avid runner, skier, backpacker and mountaineer. He played classical piano, piloted his single-engine plane cross-country, traveled widely, and hiked with the Mazamas mountaineering club. He climbed the Pacific Northwest’s 16 highest peaks and hiked Kauai’s Kalalau Trail in a three-generation family backpack trip at age 76. He actively supported environmental causes and women’s reproductive rights.
Born on July 7, 1933, in Newark, N.J., he was raised in nearby Montclair. Mark graduated from Amherst College in 1955, attended Harvard Law School and MIT, and graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1961. Following a stint as an Army doctor, he practiced obstetrics and gynecology for 29 years at Kaiser Permanente in Portland. After retirement, he volunteered his medical services in Bend, Eugene and Portland, Ore..
Mark is survived by his wife of 27 years, Ezma Henry Hanschka, along with his sister Carol H. Traenkle and her husband Jeffrey of Wayland and Oak Bluffs. His children include Stephen Hanschka and his wife Buffy Trott Hanschka of Portland, Ore.; T. Whitney Hanschka and his wife Nancy Tutko of Vineyard Haven; Laura Hanschka and James Suver of Scottsdale, Ariz.; Mark Lewis and his wife Shannen Chapman of Corvallis, Ore.; Teri Lewis and her husband Michael Smith of Corvallis, Ore., and Christopher Hanschka and his wife Stephenie Thang of Sammamish, Wash. Other survivors include his stepchildren, Gretchen Souther Ranger and her husband Tim Ranger of Springfield, Ore., and Matt Souther and his wife Bonni Stover of Portland, Ore.; his niece Wendy Traenkle Reagan of Medway and Oak Bluffs, and nephew Jeffrey Scott Traenkle of Marion and Oak Bluffs; and ten grandchildren, including Eli and Lena Hanschka of Vineyard Haven.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Herbert L. Hanschka and Grove T. Hanschka of Montclair, N.J.
He was interred at Portland’s Riverview Cemetery in a private graveside service, with a memorial service at the Mazama Lodge on Oregon’s Mt. Hood in September.
Contributions in Mark’s memory may be made to Planned Parenthood, Friends of Family Planning of Martha’s Vineyard or the environmental organization of one’s choice.
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