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cavalier sports 8 CAVALIER CORNER L ongtime VAF and UVA supporter Mark Sternheimer (Col '50) has an incred- ible life story with his UVA and military backgrounds. When he turned 18 in 1948, Sternheimer signed up for the Marines and was enrolled in the Platoon Leaders Course program at the University of Virginia. He studied hard and had the honor of living on the Lawn in 1949. Impressively, Robert Neller, who went on to become a Marine Corps four- star general and commandant of the Marine Corps, also lived on the Lawn at the time. During his time at UVA, Sternheimer was fortunate in many ways. He met his future wife, Anne, who went to the Nursing School and College ('50 and '52). While pledging for his fraternity, Mark was tasked with col- lecting bricks. His good fortune took him to the back of the Packard dealership where he discovered a 1934 Packard LeBaron Roadster in disrepair. Mark purchased the car and used it to date Anne throughout his college years. Forty years later, Mark restored the car, which won second in its class at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance — one of the world's most prestigious car show — with one of the rarest and most valuable models ever made. This particular car once belonged to Douglas Fairbanks Sr., a famous actor, screenwriter, director and pro- ducer, before finding its way to Charlottesville. Upon graduating with an electrical en- gineering degree, Mark received his 2nd Lt. commission a few weeks before the Korean War began. Mark attended the 1st Special Basic Class at Quantico upon grad- uation from UVA with fellow marines such as Senator John Warner, Pat Robertson and Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork prior to being sent to Korea. During his time in Korea, he became good friends with Sull Chang Kang, a young Korean interpreter for his platoon who saved him on many occasions. Mark returned to the States in 1952 and wrote many letters to UVA and the Marine Corps to help Kang get admitted to UVA's Engi- neering School in 1953. Mark was able to bring Kang to the U.S. and sponsored him through his studies at UVA. Kang graduated from the School of Engineering and later earned a Ph.D. in solid state physics from Stanford University. He became a U.S. citizen, and was a vice president at the Samsung Company. One of Kang's greatest goals was to set up a manufacturing plant in North Korea, which he had hoped would improve political rela- tions, but Senator John Warner couldn't get permission for him to go to the country be- cause it was much too dangerous. This was the genesis to Mark's under- standing of giving back. Mark and Anne un- derstood the value of a good education and wanted to give back to their alma mater. Mark had his own successful career path outside of the military as the president of Sternheimer Brothers and owner of the A&N store chain, a family business started in 1868. He has served on various boards in the Richmond area, including the Rich- mond Chamber of Commerce Aviation Board, the University of Richmond Trefoil Society and the Virginia Aviation Histori- cal Society. He served on the board and is proud to have contributed to the establish- ment of VCU's first engineering school. Mark married his UVA sweetheart, Anne. Together they had six children and two grandchildren. With Mark's influence, Anne decided she wanted to become a pilot, so she took lessons at 6 a.m. while Mark took care of the children. The Rich- mond Times-Dispatch featured them in a front-page story. Four of their children also got their pilot's licenses and a fifth is a qualified parachutist. Mark and Anne were each other's co- pilots for the next 40 years and traveled to most of the 48 states, north to Canada and as far south as Jamaica. Anne passed away in January 2003 after a long and valiant battle with cancer. Mark said he is "very fortunate to have parents as well as a wife to let me do my thing over the years and offer encourage- ment for each new adventure." Mark and Anne supported the Univer- sity of Virginia and have contributed at the VAF's Scholarship Society level since 1997. Mark is impressed by and grateful for the University's management of his contributions to five endowed scholarships and is thrilled to benefit the deserving stu- dent-athlete recipients through the years. Through A&N, Mark sponsored The George Welsh Show for almost 15 years. Mark and Anne were good friends with men's basketball coach Terry Holland and together they recognized the need for a new basketball arena. Anne served on the Capital Campaign to raise money for the new John Paul Jones Arena. Mark has a lifetime of exciting UVA athletics memories, including the 2019 NCAA men's basketball tournament win and baseball's first trip to the College World Series Finals. — Jess Armistead Mark Sternheimer WAHOO NATION Sternheimer and his late wife, Anne, met at the University of Virginia. PHOTOS COURTESY MARK STERNHEIMER