David G. Mock
Retired First National Bank executive was an active Presbyterian churchman for many years
David G. Mock, a retired First National Bank executive who was an active member of Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church, Park Avenue, and was involved with Family and Children’s Services for more than seven decades, died Nov. 11 of heart failure at Sinai Hospital. The Poplar Hill resident was 92. “David Mock was a fine example of a generous human being, and we’re going to miss him,” said the Rev. Andrew F. Connors, pastor of Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church. “He was a team leader and an encouraging spirit who loved our church and gave so much of his life to it.”
David George Mock was born in Cleveland. He was the son of Clark L. Mock, who moved to Poplar Hill in 1942, when he combined two existing associations that provided welfare and children’s services that became Family and Children’s Services. His mother was Margaret “Meg” Mock, a volunteer.
A 1943 graduate of the Gilman School, he served in the Army Air Forces as a mechanic beginning in 1944 and was in flight training at Maxwell Field in Alabama at the time he was discharged in 1945 with the rank of private.
Mr. Mock earned a bachelor’s degree in 1947 from Amherst College and a master’s degree the next year from Harvard University. In 1955, he earned a law degree from the University of Baltimore.
After graduating from Harvard, he worked for Mathieson Chemical Co., both in Baltimore and New York City, and returned to Baltimore for good in 1962 when he joined the trust department of the old First National Bank of Maryland.
At the time of his retirement in 1995, he was a vice president in the bank’s trust department.
Mr. Mock’s involvement with Family and Children’s Services, which provides welfare and children’s services, dated to the 1940s, when he drove caseworkers to the homes of foster families and delivered Thanksgiving turkeys.
After returning to Baltimore in 1962, he rejoined FCS, and for the next 40 years served on its board and as treasurer, as well as a member of its executive, developmental services and nominating committees.
“David has been on our board for more than 40 years until his retirement in 2015,” said Lisa R. Hayes, who is president of the FCS board.
“He was always very supportive of the board and was proud of his family’s strong obligation to the organization,” she said.
“He was wel-connected, universally kind, and interested in you. He was thoughtful and was comfortable in expressing his opinions which he always did in a very kind way,” Ms. Hayes said. “He was engaged when he was on the board, and David was very good about asking questions.”
In recognition of his family’s devotion to FCS, the organization established the Clark and David Mock Fund in 2015. He also was the recipient of its Bobby Russell Award for his years of volunteerism.
He had been a speaker for United Way of Central Maryland and the Easter Seal Society. He had served as secretary for the Commerce and Industry Combined Health Appeal.
Mr. Mock joined Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church in 1942, and rejoined Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church in Woodbrook after returning to the city in 1962, serving as a deacon and elder.
In 1980, he joined Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church, Park Avenue, where he participated in its Meals on Wheels program and for 25 years taught children as a member of its tutorial program.
“He taught Sunday school for 50 years, and they were middle-school students. He was a consistent volunteer with our outreach programs,” Mr. Connors said. “And as a bank executive, he really watched our finances through the lean years, which ensured our survival. He was just a generous in so many ways. He looked for ways to be a supportive spirit.”
Mr. Mock enjoyed taking church staff out for lunch.
“He regularly took the staff to lunch, and we have Peabody students who sing here and he would take them to lunch,” Mr. Connors said.
An avid baseball fan since his youth, Mr. Mock joined the Roland Park Baseball Leagues in 1952, its inaugural year, when he coached the Chevroliers.
He served the league for 58 consecutive years in various capacities, as a coach, equipment manager, treasurer and commissioner.
Mr. Mock was inducted into the Roland Park Baseball Leagues’ Hall of Fame in 2017.
“I’ve know David it seems as if forever, “said Louise MacSherry, longtime Roland Park Baseball Leagues secretary.
“David was the Iron Man of the Roland Park Baseball Leagues, serving continually as a coach since its founding in 1952 and retiring as treasurer and trustee in 2010,” Mrs. MacSherry said. “Roland Park Baseball Leagues’ trophies are named in honor of his devotion. David was universally loved, admired and respected by all.”
Mr. Mock was also a longtime followers of the Johns Hopkins University baseball team and traveled with players to Florida, Iceland, Italy, Sweden and to other tournaments.
“He was very faithful and knowledgeable,” said Robert Babb, who has coached the Hopkins team for 40 years.
“He kept score in his little book, was a good rooter, and became friends of the players and their families. If the players had a bad game, he’d cheer them up,” he said. “He was very outgoing, pleasant, and I never saw him get upset or angry.”
In 1959, he married Virginia Jane Shenk, who died in 2000.
He enjoyed playing bridge and tennis and was a member of the Bare Hills Athletic and Tennis Club, where he continued playing tennis until he was in his 80s, family members said.
Mr. Mock spent summers at Squam Lake in New Hampshire. He was a bird-watcher and had amassed a large library devoted to the subject.
“He also was an expert bird-caller,” said his son, Geoffrey Mock of Durham, N.C.
A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at his church, 1316 Park Ave., Bolton Hill.
In addition to his son, he is survived by a daughter, Melissa Riorda of Towson; a sister, Peggy Obrecht of Roland Park; and five grandchildren.