Farewell to a truly good man

Mark Merdes and his wife, Joan, were coming off a late-night flight at Fairbanks International Airport on Nov. 10.

They were returning from California and I was headed there for a short vacation. They were arriving from San Diego, while I was about to board the same flight for a trip to San Jose, Calif., from where I would go to the Central Coast area of the state.

"How was the weather down there?" I asked.

Mark Merdes said it was sunny and nice and told me to enjoy myself.

I told him I'd see him on a high school softball diamond in the spring.

I didn't know then that it would be the last time I'd see him, as cardiac arrest took his life on Nov. 15--less than a month short of his 54th birthday. The native of Pennsylvania spent nearly 53 years of his life in Alaska, coming to Juneau with his family in 1952, a year after he was born, and moving with them to Fairbanks in 1957.

The day the attorney, father of five and softball coach and enthusiast died, I had returned from California that morning and was on another plane that night to travel with the University of Alaska Fairbanks hockey team to Omaha, Neb., for its Central Collegiate Hockey Association series against the University of Nebraska-Omaha on Nov. 18-19.

I was unaware he had passed away until Jeff Holt, a softball umpire and former North Pole High School head softball coach, left a message on my voice mail at the office. I didn't return to work until Nov. 22.

Until that early November night at the airport, the only other places I had seen Merdes was in the dugout of a softball field for a Mid Alaska Conference game or in a print advertisement for the law firm which he operated with his brother, Ward.

But the times I did see him at a softball field, Mark Merdes always had a smile and a positive attitude, regardless of whether the team with which he was involved was winning or losing. I first met him in the 2003 when he was an assistant coach with then-head coach Rod Avery at Lathrop High school. Merdes spent last season working with then-first-year head coach Togi Letuligasenoa at West Valley High School.

Letuligasenoa, who's also a CCHA assistant referee, and Merdes were formerly assistant coaches at Lathrop.

Avery, who guided Lathrop for 12 years, remembers a good communicator in Merdes, who spent five seasons with the Malemutes.

"He definitely knew how to break drills down,'' Avery said in a telephone interview Monday. "He was a real good communicator with the girls. He was also the hitting coach and he just tried to simplify it as much as possible.''

He was a peaceful presence around Avery, who said he was vociferous as a coach before Merdes joined him at Lathrop.

"He was a big influence for me," Avery said. "My approach as a coach definitely changed after Mark came on board. He was a calmer kind of coach and that was a great thing for me to pick up.''

Some high school seniors who aspire to play college softball are going to pick up a little help because of Merdes.

According to his obituary on Nov. 20 in the Daily News-Miner, in lieu of flowers, his family requested donations be made to the Mark Merdes Scholarship Fund at Credit Union 1 to aid his "girls" in following their dreams of playing college ball.

A celebration of his life was conducted on Nov. 22 at the Dog Mushers' Hall at the Jeff Studdart Racegrounds on Farmers Loop.

He'll be remembered, too, when the high school softball season commences in the spring.

Hopefully, the weather will be nice and sunny on opening day.

CAMPUS TRAILS: West Valley graduate and sophomore wing Jamie Mireles had 16 points for the University of Saint Mary (Kan.) women's basketball team in Saturday's 94-56 loss to Sioux Falls University (S.D.) in the Northwestern Classic in Orange, Iowa ... The Metropolitan State College of Denver men's team, coached by Lathrop grad Mike Dunlap, placed third Sunday in the Hawaii-Hilo Shootout with a 67-63 win over Western New Mexico ... Sophomore guard and Wasilla grad Chandice Cronk contributed eight points to the Santa Clara women's 80-63 win over Central Florida on Monday in Santa Clara, Calif. ... Sophomore guard Chris Bryant from Metlakatla had 13 points for Drake in Saturday's 86-79 win over Texas Christian for third place in the Las Vegas Invitational. Drake is scheduled to participate in the BP Top of the World Classic next November at the Carlson Center ... The California Irvine women, coached by Soldotna grad Molly Tuter, dropped games to Colorado State (85-65 on Saturday) and South Dakota State (81-56 on Sunday) in the Rocky Mountain Invitational in Fort Collins, Colo. ... Sophomore post Melissa Mayse from Wasilla had seven rebounds for the Southwestern Oregon Community College women in a 68-66 victory over host College of the Redwoods in the championship game of the Corsair Classic on Sunday in Eureka, Calif. Southwestern Oregon's roster includes Lathrop grad Sade Powell, a freshman forward.

* Sophomore goaltender O'Hara Shipe from Anchorage came in relief nearly halfway through the first period and finished with 19 saves for the Brown women's hockey team in Saturday's 5-3 loss to Providence in the 11th annual Mayor's Cup in Providence, R.I. ... Colony grad and junior defenseman Nathan Schwartzbauer had an assist for the Bemidji State men in a 4-3 win over Ferris State on Nov. 19 in Big Rapids, Mich. ... Colorado College junior right wing Joey Crabb of Anchorage had a goal and an assist in the first period of Friday's 4-3 loss to Massachusetts in a nonconference men's game in Amherst, Mass.

* Junior cornerback Zack Bowman from Bartlett had two tackles for the Nebraska football team in a 30-3 rout of Colorado in Friday's Big 12 Conference regular-season finale in Boulder, Colo. ... Boise State, which features senior left tackle Daryn College of North Pole and junior running back and Dimond grad Brett Denton, accepted an invitation Monday to play in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho on Dec. 28. Boise State will face a yet-to-be-determined team from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Staff writer Danny Martin can be reached at dmartin@newsminer.com or 459-7586.