TRAVERSE CITY — Mark Eckhoff was never afraid to roll up his sleeves and take action on the issues that mattered to him.
That’s how Scott Hardy remembered Eckhoff, who he knew through a web of connections, including working with him at real estate firm Three West, their time on the Traverse City Downtown Development Authority board and Eckhoff helping Hardy to campaign for various elected offices.
“I always thought the world of him, as a friend but also as a peer and mentor,” Hardy said. “He always had a very solid, reasonable approach to things that I found refreshing.”
Eckhoff died Sunday not long after an acute myeloid leukemia diagnosis, according to his obituary. He was 68.
Friends and colleagues remembered Eckhoff for his dedication to serving others, his kindness, humility and sense of fairness.
“He was always fair, and he was always cognizant of the other person and compassionate in the way that he went about his business,” Three West Owner and Broker Kevin Endres said. “But he definitely was about service over self.”
That extended to the firm, where Eckhoff was always willing to help other agents if they needed guidance or advice, Endres said.
Eckhoff joined Three West around 2013 shortly after he retired from Fifth Third Bank, Endres said. He was honored that someone nearly 20 years Endres’ senior would want to work for him. It should’ve been the other way around, Endres said.
Eckhoff served as a mentor of sorts as the firm grew – and as Endres dealt with the sudden death of Three West partner Rick Deneweth.
Endres said both he and Eckhoff volunteered for the Catholic church; Endres as a deacon at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and Eckhoff on finance councils for both the church and Gaylord Diocese.
“This guy lived his life, not for what Mark Eckhoff could get for Mark Eckhoff,” Endres said. “Mark used the skills that God gave him for the betterment of other people.”
That included membership in the Rotary Club of Traverse City, where Eckhoff was club president from 2021 to 2022, and chairing the United Way of Northwest Michigan board as well.
Steve Wade, vice president of community impact for the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation, worked with Eckhoff in both Rotary and United Way and remarked on the fact that Eckhoff was very civic-minded.
“You know, he really was involved in things because he wanted our community to be better, and he found avenues of service to be engaged and use his talents, his passion, his connections and his influence to make the community better,” he said.
Volunteerism takes on many forms, and while those who serve on boards contribute by putting good ideas into action for civic organizations, Eckhoff was always willing to put in the work as well, Wade said.
Examples included walking barefoot through town in April for Rotary Club of Traverse City’s “No Shoes Day” to raise awareness for people in need who go without shoes, or swinging a hammer, picking up trash — whatever needed doing — on United Way’s Day of Caring.
“I know Mark well enough to know that connection goes back to his own personal faith, but also just how it was a through-line to his life,” Wade said.
Hardy said Eckhoff had a keen understanding of the local political scene, and believed in the roles that both the city commission and DDA played. Eckhoff worked with the late Bryan Crough, the DDA director for more than 20 years, and shared in the vision of maintaining a vibrant downtown without doing so to the exclusion of city residents.
Record-Eagle Publisher Paul Heidbreder said he knew Eckhoff as a member of the Rotary Club of Traverse City, and called him a “first-class guy.”
“He really lived the premise of service above self,” he said, referring to Rotary International’s motto. “He was always early to volunteer for so many activities and projects.”
Along with the DDA, Eckhoff also served on the Grand Traverse County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and the Northwest Regional Airport Authority.
Eckhoff was born in Cincinnati in 1957 and attended the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University, according to his obituary.
Endres said Eckhoff loved golf and college sports, especially watching his alma mater’s basketball team. He also enjoyed the outdoors, including boat rides on Long Lake.
In his obituary, Renee Eckhoff wrote that her husband especially loved animals, northwest Michigan autumns and Christmas celebrations.
“Above all, Mark will be remembered as a man of steadfast loyalty, unfailing kindness, and unshakable fairness,” she wrote. “His presence made life better, and his loss will be deeply felt.”
Mark is survived by Renee and their two children, Buddy and Emma.
Visitation will be at 10 a.m. Friday, with a Memorial Mass to follow at 11 a.m at St. Patrick Catholic Church.
His obituary notes that memorial contributions in his honor may be directed to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, Rotary Charities or the United Way, all organizations important to Mark.