Meet your neighbors

You meet the nicest people in Odessa whether they have been here for one hundred years or they just recently moved here. Odessa is a wonderful place with wonderful people. And now I would like to introduce you to another really nice person that decided to make Odessa his home. Mark Roetcisoender made his move from Marble Mountain in the North Cascades to Odessa about three weeks ago. He was born in 1954 in Snohomish, Wash., where he grew up with his parents, four brothers and one sister. His father was born in Cathcart, Wash. and was a cat skinner (an operator of a Caterpillar tractor) and worked in the woods for many years. His mother was born in Waldheim, Saskatchewan, Canada and was a homemaker. Mark's parents lived in the same house for 55 years.

He said he grew up by the Pilchuck River and had the woods to play in with lots of excitement and adventure. They also ran a dairy farm on five acres which kept them very busy. Mark went to school in Snohomish and graduated from Queen Anne High School. He was married and from that union came a daughter. He has one granddaughter named Jewel. Mark worked at Boeing as a quality assurance inspector on Boeing 747s from 1979 to 1998. He also worked at Bayliner, building boats. Some of Mark's hobbies are carving wooden walking sticks and canes. He showed me two of them and they are very well made with beautiful detail. One of them was made from Diamond Willow which was lighter compared to the second one, and he wasn't sure what kind of wood it was. He also works with metals, such as aluminum, copper and brass.

I asked him what brought him to Odessa and he told me he wanted to be where it was drier and where he could find affordable housing. After doing some research and looking at several places he found his home. Mark says he is very comfortable here and has wonderful neighbors. The townspeople are friendly.

He loves motorcycles and has owned 42 of them in his lifetime. Mark used to do a lot of racing and still enjoys his motorcycles. He says it was his brother Jerry who got him addicted. While I was interviewing Mark I had the pleasure of meeting his brother Jerry. Mark says he also likes to do volunteer work, and when he gets settled in, he will find his volunteer place in the community.

Welcome to Odessa, Mark. We are happy you are here.

Until next time, enjoy life!