Mark Robert Lucier

Mark Robert (Rob) Lucier passed away unexpectedly from a rare event on March 20, 2022 at the age of 53.  Born January 6, 1969 in Portsmouth, NH, Mark was a 1987 graduate of Central Catholic High School in Lawrence. He went on to complete both MS and BS degrees from UMass Amherst in Animal Science before completing his PhD from UMass Amherst in Animal Science, with a concentration in Immunology (1998). He went on to become a post doc at the University of Rhode Island, while starting his studies towards an MBA (2003). 

After completing his scientific degrees, Mark chose to pursue the management of the family’s farm as his full-time occupation.  There he turned his critical thinking skills, love of research, and adherence to discipline and order, towards the many aspects of running a small farm. 

A Renaissance Man in the truest sense; the great pride brought to each endeavor shown with brilliance no matter how mundane; the best shovel for edging a bed, optimum soil Ph for a crop, or the build-quality of a work boot – all points to be first thoroughly-researched and then carefully vetted.

Peripatetic, Mark moved from one wide ranging interest to the next:  The proper date first-crop hay should be “put up by” for optimal nutrition for his cherished sheep, or how to increase the tightness of the crimp in the wool they grew in his quest for finer yarn.  His diverse and highly selected heritage breed chickens were chosen for not just egg production, but hardiness to cold, and the ability to rely on forage instead of store-bought feed among other attributes.

Mark tended a large victory garden of ever-changing specialized vegetables including purple asparagus, Indian corn, Romanian tomatoes, castor beans and birdhouse gourds to name just a tiny few of the many items he rotated through its many rows. 

A gifted cook, Mark mastered about every aspect of it:  wood fire, curing, grilling, baking, roasting, candy making, maple sugaring, the finished results of all lovingly shared amongst family throughout the year’s holidays or any random occasion.

At his core, Mark’s world was the challenges and responsibilities each season brought to his farm; a paradox of the physically small, yet the dramatically broad, and infinitely deep. That he was able to build such a beautiful, vibrant, and dynamic entity in just the over twenty years he lived on it, is a testament to both his skills as a thinker and a doer. 

While at UMass he met the love of his life, Karen, in the fall of 1987.  They shared a wonderful life together for over 34 years and embraced farm life together.  His favorite saying to her is that we are in this together, and he took great joy in spoiling her each and every day.  He always gave thoughtful gifts and focused on ways to make their life easier.  In their down-time they enjoyed vacationing and long Sunday coastal and country drives in their sonorous red Miata, aptly called “Red”. 

Caring, he lent his time doing thoughtful things for others.  He will be missed greatly by all whose lives he touched and his loss is an irreparable void in the lives of those who knew and loved him for his most-generous spirit, caring nature, and brilliant mind.

Mark is survived by his beloved Karen, his mother, Andrea, and his two brothers, John and Mike as well as their families, all from Amesbury, three aunts, two uncles, six cousins and Karen’s family.  He is preceded by his father, Harry J. Lucier Jr, who passed away in 2016.

Donations in his memory may be made to the MSPCA at Nevins Farm in Methuen, MA.

Final Harvest 

by Barbara W. Weber

He was bound to the land

From the day of his birth

His roots anchored deep

in the fertile earth

Nurtured, sustained,

by the soil he grew

And his life, like his furrows,

ran straight and true.

In faith, each spring,

he planted the seeds

In hope, to reap his family’s needs

With patience, he waited

for the harvest to come

To gather the fruits

of his labor home.

Ever turning seasons,

the years sped past

Till the final harvest came at last

Then claimed anew

by beloved sod

He was gathered

home to be with God.