A Heartfelt Call for Support

Mark E. Joos, 63, of Highland Lakes, passed away tragically on Saturday, March 29, 2025, while doing what he loved most—fishing on Lake Wanda, surrounded by the beauty of his beloved Highland Lakes community.

Mark was an avid fisherman in his community teaching those around him and competing in tournaments with his club Berkley Bass Masters. Unfortunately Saturday he went out onto the lake like normal and the chair in his boat snapped and he went overboard. The wind took his boat and it quickly drifted away from him before he was able to recover from the fall. Our wonderful neighbors were able to call emergency services and they worked tirelessly to rescue him from the lake and resuscitate him, but unfortunately he succumbed to his injuries and hypothermia.

Mark was an experienced outdoorsman and had spent thousands of hours in his boats and even more in the woods. His son wants his father’s death to have meaning. We don’t know if it would have made a difference in this case, but we wanted to use this as an opportunity to remind everyone of boat safety basics such as life jackets and sea cushions, especially when the water is cold. The cold water can lock your joints even before the hypothermia starts to set in causing you to be defenseless.

This family has been through a traumatic past couple of months as they had just lost Mark's wife in November to cancer. Mark is lovingly survived by his son Ryan and daughter-in-law Rebecca. They have a 20 month old son, and they are due to have another son in three weeks.

We wish for your prayers during this grieving period and humbly ask for the community's support for this family during their most difficult time. Any little bit will help.