Mark A. Viets

MARK A. VIETS

1/19/1942  -  9/23/2018

Mark A. Viets of Fairway, KS, passed away suddenly on September 23, 2018.  He was age 76.

Mark was born to Henrietta (Pohlmann) and Oscar Viets in Booneville, MO, in 1942.  His family soon moved to Jefferson City, MO, where Mark attended Lutheran schools before graduating from Jefferson City Public High School.  Jeff City is also where he met Nancy Jane Ratz.  Mark and Nancy were high school sweethearts.  They married on August 1, 1964.

Mark earned both an undergraduate degree and an architecture degree from Washington University in St. Louis.  There he also took further graduate studies, in art history.  After graduation he soon joined a fledgling architectural firm that became Peckham, Guyton, Albers, and Viets in St. Louis.  In 1970, Mark and Nancy moved to Kansas City to expand PGAV.  He established an office on the Plaza.  That office eventually moved just across the state line to Westwood, KS, where it is still located today.  PGAV-KC has designed projects in not just the Kansas City area but all over the United States and even internationally.  Notable Kansas City area projects include the Johnson County Administrative Building in Olathe, the Carlsen Center at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, and the Stowers Institute in Kansas City.

Mark and his partners went through peaks and valleys - not only because PGAV became a go-to firm for the design of amusement parks - but they persevered and left a professional legacy that still bears the PGAV name.  Mark was humble about the success of PGAV but it was always, even in retirement, a big part of him.  An architect to the end, Mark constantly had ideas for making spaces more attractive, and he excelled at putting those ideas into action, whether it was upgrading a college library for a PGAV client or taking his already-beautiful backyard that much closer to perfection.

Mark was a devoted family man.  He had 7 aunts and uncles on his mother's side and 12 on his father's side.  Mark and his sister Elaine (now of Frisco, TX) were especially close to their cousins with whom they were raised in Jeff City.  Mark always looked forward to the Pohlmann reunions each year or so.  Mark was extremely close to his two children, Aaron (an attorney in Albuquerque, NM) and Alexa (an administrator with the National Park Service in Asheville, NC).  Aaron is married to Vanessa (Lopez).  Their two children, Christian and Cynthia, were Mark's joy, and Nancy's too.  Mark and Nancy doted on their grandkids and treasured their visits to New Mexico to see them.  Mark also loved to fish with Aaron.  Their most recent trip, in August, was for saltwater fish off the west coast of Canada.

Mark was active in the community.  A 46-year resident of Fairway, KS, Mark served at times on the City Council, the Planning Commission, and the Board of Zoning Appeals.  He was a member and one-time president of the Friends of the Shawnee Indian Mission.  He served on the Kansas State Historical Society Board, the Johnson County Airport Commission, and the Kansas State Architectural Review Board.  Mark was a 45-year member of Trinity Lutheran Church where he served at different times as a Boy Scout leader and a member of the Church Council, the Youth Commission, and the Evangelism Commission.  He was also once the president of the congregation.

Mark was affable, hard-working, and active.  He had a genuine interest in others.  He and Nancy created an annual scholarship for the top two students at Jeff City High School where they graduated at the top of their class in 1960.  Mark did not shy away from a challenge.  He and a good friend Rex Garrelts rode their bikes the length of the Lewis and Clark Trail - and Mark didn't even own a bike until a few months before.  His first summer job in high school was digging graves ("the only job where I started at the top and worked my way down") at Riverside Cemetery in Jeff City where, in due course, he will be interred.

Last but not least, Mark was a committed Christian.  Mark's faith was a big part of his identity.  Mark was generous, tolerant, and loving.  Mark was not one to ruminate on his own mortality, but when he did acknowledge it, he drew much comfort from the promise that he would dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Mark will be sorely missed.  Services will be Saturday, September 29, 2018, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Mission, KS, visitation at 1:30, service at 2:30.  In lieu of flowers, Mark preferred donations to Metropolitan Lutheran Ministries or Spire Chamber Ensemble.