Mark Clasby

Waynesville, Mark Bower Clasby, age 77, passed away peacefully on Saturday, May 8, 2021, at his residence.

A native of Alexandria, Virginia, Mark has resided in Haywood County since 1993.  He was preceded in death by his parents, Joe Mark Bower and Dana Jane Anthony Burns.  As a young man, Mark had been fascinated with aeronautics.  Upon graduating from the University of Miami in 1965, Mark was accepted into the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Institute where he received his private commercial multi-engine license.  Mark began his aeronautical career with American Airlines in New York.  He served in various management positions eventually being promoted to American Airlines’ Washington D.C. hub.  At the pinnacle of Mark’s pilot career, he was hired as the Regional Vice President for Marriott Inflight Services.  Mark would transition from his airline career and purchase his first company, Glare Control, a 3M dealership with locations in Miami, the Florida Keys and Ocala.  Eventually, Mark’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to overseeing his family’s department store business in Oklahoma, Anthony’s, until moving to the mountains of North Carolina in 1993.

Mark became the CEO of Cedar Hill Studios, running the wholesale end of the art studio until 2003.  After a campaign for county commissioner, Mark landed himself on the county’s radar and was hired as the Executive Director for Haywood County’s Economic Development Council.  During Mark’s tenure, he was instrumental in the oversight and securing funds for Canton and Clyde’s revitalization after Hurricanes Frances and Ivan; he played a vital role in stabilizing the county during 2008’s Great Recession and assisted in successfully navigating the county through converting the old Dayco property into what is now, Waynesville Commons.  Mark was also the county’s point person in the effort to secure $12 million in state funding to help Evergreen Packaging with their air quality upgrade.  During Haywood Regional Medical Center’s certification issues, Mark was asked to serve as board chairman of Medwest.  He was a key player in the agreement with Duke LifePoint to purchase the facility under the Medwest umbrella.

Mark was an active Waynesville Rotarian, former board member to the Good Samaritan Clinic and Mountain Projects.  As one fellow Rotarian recently wrote about Mark, “Mark’s service to our community is immeasurable, whether it was economic development or health care.  Most of all, his friendship stands above all of his accomplishments.  We repeat the 4 Way Test weekly and, as I think of Mark at this moment, I know he lived it.”

Mark is survived by his wife, Terry Ann Clasby, of Waynesville; two daughters, Kemper Jayne Williams, and her husband, Butch, of Summerfield, Florida and Brooke Noel Henry, and her husband, Slade, of Canton; sister, Jane Yakots, and her husband, Steve, of Atlanta, Georgia; four brothers, Steve Clasby and his wife, Susan, of Dallas, Texas, Dwight Clasby and his wife, Julie, of Denver, Colorado, Brad Clasby and his wife, Pam, of Greensboro, North Carolina and Grant Clasby and his wife, Vicky, of Franklin, Tennessee; four grandchildren, Madison Williams, Judd Williams, Megan Lowe, and Trent Lowe; and two great-grandchildren, Holston and Maelyn.

A funeral service will be held on Thursday, May 13, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. at Long’s Chapel United Methodist Church Sanctuary with Reverend Tim McConnell and Chris Westmoreland officiating.  The family will receive friends from 12:30 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. at the church.  Burial will follow the service at Greenhill Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Rotary Foundation, 385 N. Haywood St., Suite 3, Waynesville, NC 28786 or Haywood Healthcare Foundation, 262 Leroy George Drive, Clyde, NC 28721.

The care of Mr. Clasby has been entrusted to Wells Funeral Homes and an online memorial register is available at "Obituaries" at www.wellsfuneralhome.com