By Fran Elia, SUNY Cortland
Mark Coley, who was a long-time friend and colleague of many in the UAA, passed away on December 27, 2020, at age 56. He died just five days after posting on Facebook that he had been suffering from stage 5 kidney disease that was going to require him to go through dialysis, with an eventual hope for a transplant.
A Rochester native, Mark graduated from SUNY Cortland as a non-traditional student in 1998. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications studies. As an undergraduate, Mark worked in the sports information office, serving as statistician and primary media contact for the women’s volleyball team from 1995-97. He also worked as a public address announcer for men’s basketball and women’s volleyball contests, as well as at the 1996 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships, which Cortland hosted.
Mark worked as a part-time editorial assistant and reporter for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle for 12 years from 1986-98, and those of us who worked in sports information at the time can vividly remember him taking our calls for results on busy event nights.
After graduating from Cortland, Mark was the assistant SID at Emory University in Atlanta during the 1998-99 school year. His primary duties were the production of all gameday publications and serving as head statistician for the men’s and women’s basketball teams.
Mark was hired as Cortland’s assistant SID in August of 1999 and worked one year with the Red Dragons before getting a chance to return back to Rochester to serve as publicist of the University Athletic Association (UAA). He worked with the UAA for eight years from 2000-08, as well as one year as Oswego State’s SID in the 2008-09 school year.
Mark returned to Rochester in 2009 and served as a loving and devoted caretaker of his mother, Willie Bell Coley, until her passing in December 2019 – the job he was probably the proudest of during his distinguished life.
All who knew and worked with Mark will remember his as an incredibly talented, friendly, loyal, passionate, unassuming and humble person. He was always there to lend a hand to his friends and colleagues and share stories and laughs. He was a truly great man and will be dearly missed.
From Dick Rasmussen, UAA Executive Vice President
"Mark was a unique person. Friendly, unassuming, and humble for sure. He carried his work habits from years at the agate desk at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle to the UAA, often working late into the night as he watched every UAA contest he could. He knew everything there was to know about almost every UAA student-athlete, and could give you a personal biography of each off the top of his head. He was always ready to volunteer his services and help out friends with any event. He was a truly selfless individual, and always with a smile. I’ll miss him."