By
Mark Allen Bilbrey
Born: October 19th, 1979
Died: November 6th, 2018
Obituary
Mark Allen Bilbrey, 39, died on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, from injuries sustained in a one vehicle accident in Nashville, TN.
Mark was born October 19, 1979, in Nashville, TN. He graduated from Hume Fogg High School in Nashville in 1998. Never in danger of a shortage of degrees, Mark earned a BA in English from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2002, an MFA from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa in 2004, and a PhD in Literature from the University of Georgia in 2008. He served as a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin – Parkside through 2012. After leaving academia, Mark started the Paragraph Doctor, a freelance editing and tutoring business, and worked as the cheese monger at the Porter Road Butcher in Nashville.
Mark was an avid musician, playing guitar in a rock band with his childhood best friends and trumpet in various big bands, jazz combos, and other groups. He was a lifelong poet and lover of literature. More recently, he developed a keen interest in birding and fine cheeses.
Mark was a quiet soul, a loving son, a patient brother, a silly uncle, a quick and lasting friend, and a smiling face to everybody else that crossed his too short path in life.
Mark is survived by his mother, Eve Bilbrey; his father and step-mother, Keith and Emy Joe Bilbrey; his brother and sister-in-law, Eric and Jessica Bilbrey, and their children, Amelia and Rory Bilbrey; his step-sister and step-brother-in-law, Stephanie and Charlie Warner, and their children, McKinley, Meredith, and Madden Warner; many beloved aunts, uncles, and cousins; countless friends; and a world of friends that he just hadn’t met yet.
He is preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Margaret and Walter Pruitt, and his paternal grandparents, Ethel and Leo Bilbrey.
Visitation will be held on Friday, November 9, 2018, from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm at Belmont United Methodist Church, 2007 Acklen Avenue, Nashville, TN. A memorial service will also be held at Belmont UMC on Saturday, November 10, 2018, at 11:00 am, with visitation beginning at 10:00 am. Rev. John Collett will officiate. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Friends of Radnor Lake, Tennessee Justice for our Neighbors, or a charity of your choice.
“Won’t you be my neighbor?” – Fred Rogers
