The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Former staff member dies from tragic fall
Former photographer dies after several days in coma
By Dan DuChene, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: January 3, 2008
Former photographer and circulation manager for The Courier Mark Mueller passed away last week.
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At the age of 44, Mueller died on Dec. 26 in the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor. He had fallen down a flight of stairs in his Ann Arbor home six days prior and never regained consciousness.
Born in Waterford on June 26, 1963 to parents Hellen and Herbert Mueller, Mueller later moved to Ann Arbor and graduated from Pioneer High School in 1981.
It was during his high school career where he became interested in photography, said Mueller's mother, Hellen Loveland. He had started with his involvement with the high school yearbook. Though it started as a hobby and later progressed to a career, family members said his photography became prominent in his personal life as well.
"He was always there with a camera," said Mueller's older sister, Sarah Hernandez. "You got used to being photographed all the time."
Loveland said Mueller would lay on the floor to take a family portrait and add himself in later with PhotoShop.
After attending Grand Valley for two years, Mueller's photography skills led him to graduate from Washtenaw Community College in the mid-eighties. It was during college when he was hired at The Ypsilanti Press.
He continued his employment with the Press until the Ann Arbor News purchased the company in 1994. It was then the Courier was formed and Mueller went on as the paper's photographer. He continued as a photographer and later circulation manager.
After the Courier, Mueller began volunteering with the American Red Cross. Chris Thompson, emergency services specialist for the Red Cross, said Mueller had been volunteering as an emergency services ham radio operator.
Loveland said Mueller got into ham radio about seven years ago, when he found some equipment stored in the attic. She said the box of equipment had been purchased for $20 at a garage sale several years prior, but was intended for Mueller's older brother Gary.
"Gary never did go very far with it," she said. "Mark thought maybe he could do something with it."It was operating ham radio for the Red Cross that brought Mueller together with his girlfriend Michelle Roderick, who had called 9-1-1 after Mueller fell.
"It's just really hard," Roderick said.
She said the fact that Mueller was an organ donor does comfort her.
"That helps," Roderick said. "At least it will make someone else's Christmas a really good one."
Hernandez said she will miss Mueller taking photographs at family functions.
"It's just an extremely difficult time for everybody," she said.
"He was a nice guy who quietly did things for other people," Hernandez said. "He seemed to have touched a lot of lives."
Mueller's brother Gary called the incident a "tragedy," but said his family is holding up well.
"It's always hard when something like this happens," Mueller said. "Time heals things."
A service for Mueller was held Sunday in Ann Arbor. His body was cremated.
In lieu of flowers or contributions to the family, Loveland is asking people make donations to the American Red Cross, or any other charity, in Mueller's name.
Mueller is survived by his mother, father, sister, brother, three nieces and one nephew.
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