Mark A. Calaluca

INVERNESS - Mark Allan Calaluca, 69, passed away of natural causes on March 7, 2022, in Inverness, Florida.

Mark was born in Detroit, Michigan, the first born of Aleo Mario (1923-2006) and Therese Marie (Wydick) Calaluca (1929 - ). He attended St. Dennis Catholic School, and Bishop Foley High School, until the family relocated to Potomac, Maryland in 1968.

Mark graduated from Winston Churchill High School in Rockville, Maryland. He received an Associate’s degree in Mathematics from Montgomery College in Maryland.

Mark had considerable intellectual interests, though he was most interested in astronomy and cosmology. He traveled extensively, particularly throughout the American Southwest. He lived in the Four Corners region for an extended period, where he could indulge his love of landscape photography, capturing the extraordinary beauty and solitude of the area.

He worked in a variety of fields, mostly construction, landscape design, and restaurants. He was known to plant flower beds wherever he found himself, a calling card for the next visitor. He developed a near encyclopedic knowledge of Southwestern flora, and almost as much about the local fauna, which he encountered on his photographic treks.

During the 1990s he had multiple assignments with MMT Observatory in Southern Arizona. Later, he worked in a variety of positions in Tucson, Arizona; St. George, Utah; Palm Springs, California and even as a chef at Grand Canyon National Park. He moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2018, but his health declined soon thereafter. However, through the invitation and loving support of his sister Peggy, he moved to her home in Inverness, Florida in 2020.

Mark had a facile mind, a dry wit, and he reveled in conversations on politics, philosophy, and physics. He was politically liberal, holding strong and insightful opinions, and could get equally animated over NFL football too. But the wilderness is where Mark felt most at home, and where he always returned.

He is survived by his mother, and siblings Margaret Anne (Peggy), Brian Thomas, Curtis Martin, Eric Matthew, and Christopher Michael, along with many nieces and nephews. His wit, conversation and unique view on life will be missed.

The Calaluca family wishes to thank especially Patricia J. Barton, who befriended Mark long ago, and remained a source of kindness and support to him for many years.

Mark’s remains are interred at Our Lady of the Rosary Cemetery, in Georgetown, Texas, in a plot next to that of his parents. The family will hold a private memorial at a later date.