Success Story
Mark Hall
Business Owner
After spending more than 23 years traveling the world with the U.S. Air Force, Mark Hall said there really is “no place like Nebraska.” The fourth-generation Nebraskan was born in York in 1953, and moved with his parents, younger brother and sister to farm and ranch southwest of Norfolk when he was 12. Hall’s father fostered a love for sports in his children by encouraging them to play on various teams and taking them to major sporting events, such as the College World Series and Nebraska football games.
He spent three semesters at Northeast Nebraska Community College in Norfolk and then enlisted in the Air Force in 1974 to earn money for college and to support his new wife and child. In 1975 - the year his marriage failed - he received a Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship to return to school. He received his degree in computer science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1978 and was commissioned in the Air Force as a 2nd lieutenant.
He met his second wife, Kathy, in Ohio, where he spent four years before he was again transferred to Los Angeles. There, he went to the University of Southern California and received his master’s degree in systems management in 1984.
Hall spent seven years on two separate military tours in Germany, during which his two sons, Bobby and Michael, were born. He became a unit commander during his second tour.
At the end of his final three-year tour, Hall said, he and his wife decided they wanted their children, who were then third- and fifth-graders, to finish school in one school system.
“In the back of my mind, I always expected that at some point I would probably come back to the Midwest and probably Nebraska,” he said, partly because he never changed residency while in the military.
The Halls considered moving to either Omaha or Norfolk, but finally decided on Norfolk because of the quality of its schools, the presence of the Norfolk Family YMCA and the ease of getting around town.
“I value the folks that have a good work ethic,” he said, “and I think that’s still very important.”
Hall said he wanted his children to experience the same sense of community he grew up with.
“There’s typically a lot of kindness and warmth still here in Nebraska,” he said. “Even though we’ve traveled all over the world, people here go out of their way to help in many cases - volunteer to help someone, even with information or directions - and I think that’s important for our youth to be exposed to that.”
The retired lieutenant colonel landed a job working for Power Computing Inc. in 2000. In 2002, he became the owner of two businesses. After purchasing a portion of another company’s assets, he started Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker, which is a nationwide supplier of athletic field-marking equipment. He also started the Watertight Storage Case Co.
While Hall said he believes some of the nation’s best leaders are in the military, Hall said he has seen many leaders - and heroes - right here in Norfolk.
“I’ve got a lot of classmates who I graduated from high school with that I would call heroes,” he said. His eyes teared up. “(They’re) very active in their community, in their churches, very successful in their businesses. That’s always nice to be associated with and be a part of growing up. So I think that they are an important legacy here in Northeast Nebraska,” he said.
- Story Courtesy of the Norfolk Daily News
