Mark Hays



Sept. 9, 1963-Feb. 28, 2007

Mark Hays, 43, Burlington, died unexpectedly Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2007, in Giddings, Texas.

Mark Russell Hays was born Sept. 9, 1963, the son of Dr. Russell O. and Betsy Hopkins Hays, in New London, Conn. As the son of a Naval officer who later became a Presbyterian minister, Mark had the benefits of being raised and educated in many diverse locations in the United States and around the world. He graduated from McLean High School, McLean, Va., in 1981. As a young man he traveled to Honduras and participated in mission work in Senegal, Brazil and upper parts of the Amazon as well as England. He attended Emory University in Atlanta, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 1986. He was accepted to the University of North Dakota School of Law and received a Juris Doctorate with Distinction in 1992. His list of awards included the Order of the Barrister, Moot Court Best Petitioner Team, and the Dean’s List.

He was united in marriage to Denise Carol McCann on Aug. 3, 1992, at First Lutheran Church in Minot. They made their home in Minot until 1997, when they moved to a home they built in Burlington.

Mark began his legal career in 1991 as a summer law clerk with Pringle and Herigstad P.C., Minot. He and his wife were both admitted to the practice of law in October of 1992. That same year he started as an associate attorney at Pringle & Herigstad and later became a shareholder/partner. He remained at the Pringle firm until 2004 when he and his wife began their own practice, Hays Law Firm P.C., in Burlington.

He was a member of the Minot Retriever Club, where he served as president several times as well as Field Trial Chairman and Captain of the Guns. He has served as an AKC and CKC field trial judge in numerous field trials in the United States and Canada. He was a member of the Brandon Retriever Club, Ducks Unlimited Minot Chapter, and the Minot Gun Club. He was a Ducks Unlimited sponsor and served for several years as chairman of the Ducks Unlimited Sponsor Event. He was a past president for Pheasants for the Future. He and his wife are corporate sponsors of the Souris Valley Humane Society.

He enjoyed waterfowl and upland game hunting. He actively participated in wetlands and wildlife conservation projects. Most of all, he loved training and competing in field trials with his five labrador retrievers.

His loving family includes: wife, Denise, Burlington; parents, Dr. Russell O. and Betsy Hays; Fort Myers, Fla.; sister, Elizabeth (Alaric) Watson and their children, Aurelia, Lysander, Orlando, Fla, and Tristan Watson, all of Mayfield, East Sussex, England; father-in-law and mother-in-law, John and Janice McCann, Minot; sister-in-law, Joan (Jon) Bechtold and their children, Jillian, Janet and Jacob Bechtold, all of West Fargo; brother-in-law, David (Laura) McCann and their children, Dawson and Dylan McCann, all of Minot; maternal uncle, James (Diane) Hays, Tucson, Ariz.; paternal uncle, Charles (Noreen) Hopkins, Chandler, Ariz.

Mark was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Charles and Elizabeth Hopkins; paternal grandparents, Orren and Virginia Hays; and nephew, Ethan McCann.

Memorial service: Wednesday, March 7, 2007, at 1 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, Minot.

Visitation: There will be no reviewal but friends may sign the book on Tuesday from noon to 7 p.m. at Thompson-Larson Funeral Home, Minot.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Midwest or Texas Labrador Rescue, Ducks Unlimited North Dakota, or the Souris Valley Humane Society.

Those wishing to sign the online register and share memories may access the online obituaries section at (www.thompsonlarson.com).