Dr. Mark Wilson Stuhlfaut

Mark Willson Stuhlfaut, Bluffton, South Carolina, and a former long-time resident of Wayzata, Minnesota, died at his home on December 28, 2024, after several years of a struggle with a rare malignant sarcoma.

Mark was born on August 1, 1949, in Geneva, Illinois to Willard Jacob Carl Stuhlfaut and Mary Ann Lorenzen Stuhlfaut. He graduated from Wayzata High School, Wayzata, Minnesota in 1967 and from the University of Minnesota in 1971 with a BA degree in communication. He first married Patricia Margaret Ball of Mankato, Minnesota in 1970, and they divorced in 1994.

Mark was exceptionally proud of his three sons, Joshua, Adam, and Nicholas, who developed their own distinct paths in life. His research into their family’s history uncovered his German, Polish, English and Irish ancestry. Mark published his genealogical records and collection of family stories in his book, Odyssey & Legacy, which is available at the Newberry Library in Chicago. His family tree, with more than 1,500 ancestors, and their records are available at Ancesttry.com.

During Mark’s life, he overcame two significant barriers: stuttering, which greatly affected his childhood and school life, and his family’s genetic polycystic kidney disease. He received a kidney transplant in 1996 that enabled him to live a long and full life.

His career in advertising took him to agencies in Missouri, New York, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, and Illinois, where he worked as an account executive, copywriter, media director, and creative director. His last advertising position was in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he met Jeanie Taylor in 1999. They married on March 6, 2002, in Las Vegas.

Mark began a second career in 2002 when he entered Michigan State University, where he earned a PhD degree in mass media in 2006. Later that year, Mark and Jeanie moved to Lexington, Kentucky where he taught advertising management and creative skills at the University of Kentucky for 11 years before retiring in 2017. He was internationally recognized for his research about the effects of organizational structures and culture on the creative process, and his papers were published in the Journal of Mass Communications, the International Journal of Advertising, and other academic publications. He traveled to Shanghai, China in 2014 and to Berlin, Germany in 2015 to teach advertising as a visiting professor.

Mark and Jeanie moved to Sun City Hilton Head near Bluffton, South Carolina in 2019 to enjoy their retirement and to experience a new and different part of the country.

As a teenager, Mark was involved in scouting, where he earned the rank of Eagle Scout along with the Order of the Arrow award for leadership. He was elected president of Wayzata High School’s student council. Downhill skiing was a passion that he enjoyed and passed on to his three sons. Later in life, he became skilled at home projects and remodeling five houses that he and Jeanie owned. Raised as a Protestant Christian, he found a spiritual home in the Unitarian-Universalist Church as an adult and culminated his religious journey as a pantheist. His interests included most genres of music, art, movies, space exploration, genealogy, woodworking, travel, cooking, and history.

Mark is survived by his amazing marriage partner, Jeanie Daily Taylor; three sons: Joshua (Alison) Adam (Amanda) and Nicholas (Cameron) Stuhlfaut; four grandchildren: Caroline Stuhlfaut, Timothy Vargas, Anna Stuhlfaut, and Max Stuhlfaut; and Mark and Jeanie’s blended family: Jenifer Taylor, Gavin Hill, Melissa (Tom)Taylor-Schwartz, Lauren (Jordan) Hayes, and Emma Harry.

Mark requested that any memorials go to the national organization or state offices of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) or Hospice of the Low Country in Bluffton, SC

A memorial service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, January 10, 2024, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Lowcountry on Malphrus Road in Bluffton, SC. The service will be live streamed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY7I8lidMfc and available afterwards on YouTube.