Null Marcus Hodapp ’47

Fun-loving Mark Hodapp never will be forgotten, especially by Asa Bushnell, Jack Madden, and Bob Wohlforth. That foursome forged friendships in second grade at Nassau Street Elementary School and called themselves The K-LUB, whose durability is marked by a brick on Palmer Square.

Born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1925, Mark grew up in Princeton, graduating in 1943 from Princeton High School, where he first perfected magic tricks that would climax with the Greater Orlando (Fla.) Area "Magician of the Year" honors in the 1990s.

Mark served in the Navy during World War II before earning an engineering degree at Purdue. From 1956 until retirement in 1981, he sold large electrical equipment for Allen Bradley Co. while serving as district manager of its Dayton and Cincinnati offices.

Having presented magic shows at engineering conventions, Mark continued to entertain after choosing Cocoa Beach, Fla., for his leisure years. Classmates enjoyed his sleight-of-hand at many reunions.

A gentle person who wowed the ladies as a tireless ballroom dancer, he counted four ex-wives as friends. Alzheimer's slowed him, but never quelled his spirit. In fact, he was playing harmonica for fellow patients when he fell, fractured a hip, underwent surgery, and died July 26, 2004, from complications of pneumonia.

To Mark's son, two daughters, sister, and three grandchildren, the class offers belated condolences.