Mark David Bracker

January 6, 1949 - September 20, 2022

SAN DIEGO — “Freedom to Roam” - Dr. Mark D. Bracker was born in Detroit, Michigan on January 6, 1949 to Air Force Captain, William E. Bracker, and Enid E. Lewis Bracker. He spent his early youth in Medford, Oregon where his father was a dentist prior to opening a new practice in Clairemont, San Diego when Mark was just 9 which is when he found his lifelong passion for surfing.

Mark graduated from Clairemont High School in 1966, San Diego State University in 1970 and then, inspired by his physician grandfather, he then graduated from the University of Miami Medical School in 1974 and became Board Certified in Family Practice in 1978.

He moved his family to Keystone, Colorado in the early 1980s and while practicing family medicine there for a short time, Mark developed a love for the greater outdoors that shaped his career in sports medicine. He worked with World Cup ski teams from around the world, serving as a physician at competitions, was active in the Colorado Search and Rescue and the Colorado Rodeo Circuit in the summer months.

In 1983, Mark moved back to San Diego with his family when offered a position as Medical Director of a new family medicine program at the University of California San Diego where he had a successful 25 year career as a professor and Sports Medicine physician caring for his patients and was an educational mentor that shaped the lives of many.

During his tenure at UCSD, Mark pioneered many successful programs in medicine: one of the first fully accredited inaugural Sports Medicine programs in the United States and was the editor and primary author of

the 5-Minute Sports Medicine Consult, widely regarded as the “Bible” of Sports Medicine, still used to this day. He traveled the world supporting the medical needs of various outdoor groups as the traveling doctor, notably leading a group of physicians on a trek to Mt. Everest Base Camp for educational purposes and volunteering his time with the International Surfing Association. He was an active member and founder of the Wilderness Medical Society and worked with the UCSD Office of Continuing Medical Education to begin a highly successful and long-running course, “Wilderness and Environmental Medicine” that continued for 20 years in Snowmass, Colorado.

Mark retired in 2008; a modern-day adventurer, he spent his time exploring the world with his wife, Alida. He was an avid volunteer in his community and rendered his skills in so many ways, including being a long term member of the UCSD athletic board during its transition to Division I status, serving on the Fleet Science Center Board of Directors for 6 years, becoming a founding board member of the Blacks Beach Foundation that enhanced the landscape of one of his favorite surfing spots and dedicated several years by providing his wood working skills to the recreation of the San Salvador ship stationed in San Diego Harbor.

In 2021 Mark was diagnosed with lung cancer and treated by the outstanding staff at the Moores Cancer Center in San Diego. On September 20, 2022, Mark passed peacefully in his home in the presence of his loving wife and immediate family. Mark’s “Carpe Diem” approach to life will live on through them.

He is survived by his wife of 41 years and best friend, Alida van der Lans Bracker, who he met while visiting the Island of Moorea in French Polynesia in 1979, daughter Shauna de Moraes and her husband Sean (Glenwood Springs, Colorado) and son Ryan Bracker and his wife Sheila (San Diego, California) as well as four wonderful grandchildren: Ethan, Emily, Liam and Sean.