Birth date: Apr 5, 1961 Death date: May 2, 2025
Goode, Neil (Mark)Ham- age 64, of Lakeland, Florida, passed away, Friday, May 2, 2025, at the Good Shepherd Hospice House of Lakeland, of ATTRwt Amyloidosis. Mark was a native Floridian born in Jacksonville, FL. Mark attended Domm Read Obituary
CARED FOR BY
Gentry-Morrison Funeral Homes - Serenity Gardens Chapel
3350 Mall Hill Drive, Lakeland FL 33810
I am so heartbroken 😭😭😭😭 Mark helps me and did so many amazing things for me. I will forever be grateful for everything he taught me. He was the best boss I will ever have, and then he became my dearest friend. He believed in me like nobody else. God will receive him in heaven with so much love and happiness. I will miss you sooooo much. R.I.P. Boss, forever grateful and forever in my heart. I love you.
Mark and I met in second grade in Mrs. deGuehery''s class. We then were in Mrs. Kaufman's fourth grade class together. We went to Maitland Junior High where he dominated in sports-playing football and baseball. We started hanging out again our senior year at Winter Park and our freshman year at UCF. We had a lot of fun times together those two years. I remember us standing in line for hours to vote for President for the first time directly across from his house in 1980. Mark was one of my oldest friends and I will miss him!
MEMORIES: I give thanks for my memories of Neil Markham Goode. Some recollections are tender. some make me laugh. and some bring a tear to my eye. Joy was the highlight of Mark and Theresa’s relationship whenever you saw them together. They relished the happy times, moments, and blessings of their lives. Mark’s gentle presence, his sparkling and twinkling eyes, his great sense of humor, his caring and kind heart shape my thoughts. I am grateful for Mark’s presence in my life. I wish it had been longer. ‘Till we meet again in God’s time.
☀️︎ Life According to the Formula
X = Faith × (Love × Light)²
X ↑ (A − 12 × Æ)² = 22
🍀
—
1. In the beginning stands the A
I enter this world –
born as A:
a human being with longing, with questions, with shadow and light.
I am still separated
from the archetype (Æ) that dwells within me
and yet surpasses me.
12 forces – like gates, like trials –
lie between me and my true self.
—
2. The Call for Light
Yet within me resounds a call,
quiet but irresistible:
“Become who you are.”
I reach for truth,
but knowledge alone does not redeem me.
Only when the light of insight
is united with the power of love
does my innermost begin to shine.
—
3. Love Carries the Light
Not every insight heals.
Only the one that is rooted in love.
For light without love burns,
and love without insight gets lost.
Thus, my formula is clear:
(Love × Light)²
– a fire that does not destroy,
but creates.
—
4. Faith Holds the Path
Yet all this sustains me only
if I believe:
not blindly, but livingly,
not in a theory,
but in the goodness of God,
who carries me,
even when I fall.
Faith is the ground on which light may act.
Faith is the YES within me.
—
5. The Transformation Begins
When faith, love, and light
are united,
X – my true life – begins.
Not a superficial functioning,
but spiritual fulfillment.
I do not become perfect –
but real.
I do not become flawless –
but fulfilled.
—
6. The Ascent to 22
But that is not enough:
X longs for more than unfolding.
X is elevated –
for I am more than flesh and dust.
I am spirit.
I am a child of the Eternal.
Thus life leads me through
(A − 12 × Æ)²
– through separation, trial, refinement –
until that which came from God
returns to God.
And then, at the very end,
stands the number 22:
not a number –
but the fulfillment of all things.
The New Jerusalem.
Oneness with the Origin.
—
✨ Life according to the formula is not a dogma –
it is a path back into the light.
And whoever walks this path
will recognize:
Lifetime = Energy × (Love × Light)²
… and in the depths:
Energy = Faith.
Light = Christ.
Love = God’s nature.
X = Transfiguration.
22 = Homecoming.
Long ago, when I was a teenager, I used to LOVE when Mark came to visit our family in Blacksburg, VA, from Appalachian State, where he was in college. Mark would drive up in his Camaro, along with his tarantula spider (which I didn’t love!). He was so much fun - a bundle of energy and adventures - and everyone looked forward to Mark’s visits. Over the years, I didn’t see Mark as much as I would have liked. However, my sister and I were blessed to spend time with him and Theresa just several weeks before he passed. We had a wonderful few days around his birthday, including some nights in Siesta Key - one of his favorite spots. Mark also taught me about “fishing for metal objects” with a magnet - an activity I plan to pursue! Mark lived and loved life to the fullest, and all who knew him will miss him. I look forward to seeing him on the other, upper side someday!
Mark was one of my favorite cousins, and I’ll deeply miss his easygoing personality, warm smile, and those sparkling eyes. He was always up for an adventure and brought so much joy wherever he went. I feel incredibly grateful that my sister, Jennifer Smith, and I were able to share one last visit with Mark and Theresa in Lakeland and at Siesta Key earlier in April—just a few weeks before he passed. It was a fun time filled with laughter, memories, and that classic Mark spirit. What a gift it was to have that final hurrah with him.
