Mark Peacock, pastor, writer, and lifelong builder of community, passed away peacefully on Oct. 22, 2026, at Regions Hospital, St. Paul, Minnesota, surrounded by his loving family. He was 83.
Mark married Marina in 1968 and always called it “the best decision I ever made.” He was proud of their children and the people they became. “They are making our world a better place,” he said, “each in his or her own way.”
The eldest son of Albert E. and Dorothy H. Peacock, Mark grew up in Los Angeles. At Hollywood High School he won first place in the Southern California Shakespeare Festival, and he acted professionally while studying international relations at the University of Southern California. Welcoming people from around the world became a thread through his early career, from the Los Angeles Center for International Visitors to his role as Foreign Student Advisor at Macalester College. After years in insurance and running his own advertising agency, he found his true calling in 1984 when he became pastor of Interfaith Christian Center.
He went on to serve United Methodist congregations in Birchwood, Exeland, St. Croix Falls, and Wolf Creek, Wisconsin, and was also Community Education Director for the Unity School District from 1988 to 1997. He retired in 2008, though retirement never quite took. He became a chaplain at Good Samaritan Society–St. Croix Falls, returned to pastor Wolf Creek in 2018, and in 2020 helped Parkview United Methodist Church in Turtle Lake prepare for its next pastor.
Mark was also a writer. His articles appeared in publications across the country beginning in 1971. In retirement he turned to fiction and published a long-running series of short story collections, from “Four Break Time Stories” through “Yes, More Break Time Stories!,” along with “Some Mangled Fairy Tales” and “Six Short Stories,” which the St. Paul Pioneer Press recommended as summer reading.
He believed deeply in giving back. He helped found what is now Northwoods Homeless Shelters, was founding vice president of Polk County’s Economic Development Corporation, and spent seventeen years on the St. Croix Valley Health Care Foundation board, including as president. He supported the arts as president of the White Bear Lake Area Arts Council and vice president of Opera St. Paul, and he served on many other boards, from local food shelves to international organizations.
Mark is survived by his wife, Marina; his children, Britta Marrinan (Mark), Alice Peacock-Haller (Hugh), Mark Aaron Peacock (Alice), Hannah Fansler (Duane), and John Peacock (Gia); twelve grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and his brother Gregory (Bunny). He was preceded in death by his parents, his daughter Heide Parent (Stephen), and his brother Guy (Lucy).
Memorials preferred to the family of Mark.
A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, at Alliance Church of the Valley, St. Croix Falls, with a visitation two hours prior to the service at the church on Thursday. Arrangements are with the Grandstrand Funeral Home, Osceola, Wisconsin. Condolences may be expressed online at grandstrandfh.com.
