Mark Alan Troutman

Mark Troutman, 71, passed away 12-31-23.  A memorial service will be held Friday, February 23

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at 2:00 at Boxwell Brothers Funeral Home, 2800 Paramount Blvd.

Mark was born September 16

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, 1952 in Oklahoma City to Herman and Sunny Joanne Troutman.  He grew up in Midwest City, Oklahoma where he attended Monroney Jr. High and Midwest City High School, being an Honors Society member at both.  As a kid, Mark was skinny and got picked on a lot.  As a teen, he began drinking protein shakes to put on weight and began weightlifting to build his physic and further define his musculature.  All through his life he admired professional body builders and attempted to emulate them. He was a big fan of Jack Lalaine.

Mark developed an entrepreneurial spirit at an early age, cutting roses from his neighbor’s garden, putting them in his wagon and rolling around the neighborhood in search of customers.  Perhaps a little more lucrative was his job selling programs at the Oklahoma City Mar Car Drag Races where his dad was a flagman.  On Friday nights, after the races, he and his sister, Cheryl, would get to go with the Mar Car crew for dinner at The Chicken in the Rough restaurant.  Those were very special times for them.

He developed his love for movies and comics at an early age when his dad would drop him off in downtown Oklahoma City in search of his favorite comic book heroes or at the local theater to catch a monster movie marathon.  He was a movie critic and a huge fan of science fiction, super heroes and monster movies.  He said you had to watch everything in order to develop a comparative analysis as the basis of your critique.  Mark also loved music and had an extensive collection of his favorite songs and artists.  He always had a song in his head to add to his growing playlists.

In high school Mark was a wrestler and weightlifter, winning several 1

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place trophies for his efforts.  He was also a member of the debate team and never lost his love for a lively and passionate debate.  He was the Youth Pastor at his church.   Mark received an academic scholarship to Oklahoma Christian University where he was on the Dean’s Honor Roll.  He later moved on to the University of Central Oklahoma where he received a BA in Psychology in 1974, graduating on the Dean’s Honor Roll.

During college, Mark worked as a supervisor in the Sears Credit Department where he met Ladonna in 1973.  Upon graduation in 1974, he was promoted to Sears Management program and transferred to Wichita Kansas where he reviewed credit applications and supervised account collections.  He and Ladonna were married that summer.  Mark and Ladonna forged lasting friendships within their Sears family with Mark joining the company bowling team that christened themselves “The Hammer Brothers”.  They were a force to be reckoned with and lots of good times were had.  While in Wichita Mark served as a Junior Achievement advisor working with youth groups in understanding private enterprise through product development and sales.  He also continued his physical fitness pursuits when he and a friend developed a business plan to fulfill their dreams and establish the Equalizer Athletic Resort.  Planning came to a halt when Mark completed the Management Program and was transferred to Amarillo to assume the duties of Credit Collections Manager.

After Sears Mark went to work at Levi Strauss & Co. Womenswear Distribution Center and entered the Management Program.  In his role as Purchasing and General Services Manager, he designed and purchased garment shipping materials to meet sales demands and supervised the availability and accuracy of the facility’s inventory.  He enjoyed his many trips to San Francisco and the California wine country while in training.  Levi eventually relocated the Womenswear facility to Waco and Mark declined the Levi transfer and secured employment at Pantex.

He worked at Pantex for 28 years holding various positions.  Most rewarding were his positions in Human Resources and Staffing and Management Leadership and Development.  Over his career, Mark completed 29 career development, management and leadership programs and was a certified instructor in 9 programs, including 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Edward Demings Managing for Productivity, Interaction Management and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, to name a few.   Mark cared about employees and the value of utilizing their inherent skills for the company and for their personal development.  Mark retired from Pantex in 2012

He is survived by his wife, Ladonna Troutman; son, Mason Troutman and wife Diedra and grandchildren Khloe, Colton and Kaitlyn of Houston, Texas; daughter, Christy Troutman and fiancé Dustin Eichholt of Houston; sister, Cheryl Widener of Stillwater, Oklahoma; niece, Crystal Widener and her daughter, Mychal also of Stillwater.

The family requests memorials to be to the High Plains Food Bank or Faith City Mission.