After being diagnosed with glioblastoma in December 2023 and stoically fighting the illness for 13 months, Mark Fallon Carpenter died peacefully at his winter home in Palm Springs, Calif. on Jan. 19, 2025. He was 60.
Mark’s love affair with Provincetown began in 1984 when he spent his first summer in town working as a barback at the Boatslip. He was drawn by the town’s charm and energy and returned often before eventually buying a summer home on Pearl Street in 2009.
Mark wanted to die at home, and in his last days he was cared for by his husband, Kenny Sousa, and his close friends, who became affectionately known as “Mark whisperers” because they could still understand him despite his developing aphasia. He was surrounded by love and family to the end, including his siblings Noreen, Kevin, and Joan and their spouses.
The son of the late Mary Lorraine (Cox) Carpenter and George Joseph Carpenter, Mark was born in Albany, N.Y. The family soon moved to Delmar, N.Y., where Mark was raised, and he graduated from Bethlehem High School in 1982.
Mark attended the State University of New York at Potsdam and graduated with a degree in computer science in 1986, but the highlight of those years was the time he spent as an exchange student at McGill University in Montreal. He thrived at McGill, immersing himself in the culturally diverse atmosphere and making friends who stayed with him for life.
One such friend, Alan Emtage, described navigating a massive ice storm with Mark in an online remembrance. “The whole world was slick as glass,” Alan wrote, “and while I cautiously picked my way along, Mark seemed much more sure-footed.
“That confidence lasted until we reached the crest of a hill,” Alan continued. “He started sliding uncontrollably, grabbing onto a Canada Post mailbox for dear life,” but the mailbox was not attached to the ground. “He and the mailbox barely avoided crashing into traffic.”
Mark, Alan, and their friend Cynthia “became a tight-knit trio” at McGill who “listened to Prince on repeat, drank cheap red wine, and shared an irreverent sense of humor,” Alan wrote. Years later, when Alan married Michael Rhodes, Mark served as their “flower girl, photographer, and sole attendant, a role he really got a kick out of.”
Mark’s career took him to many great cities of the world, including London, San Francisco, and Boston. He worked for several leading-edge corporations as a sales engineer, including Sun Microsystems from 1988 to 2001, Apple from 2002 to 2010, and Oracle from 2011 to 2017.
A group of friends including Mark and Alan bought “the ‘commune’ we now call Pearl Gulch” in 2009, Alan wrote, “sharing life together for five months each year.” Mark was a fixture at Tea Dance, a regular at the Mussel Beach Gym, and a heartening presence at the beach, the pool, or hosting friends. Provincetown wasn’t just a place to Mark; it was a cherished community and a lifelong home.
In 2019, Mark “accidentally” retired after quitting his job at 55 and not pursuing another. After mulling his options, he decided to split his time between Provincetown and Palm Springs. He bought a home there in 2023, only seven months before his diagnosis.
Mark is survived by his husband, Kenny Sousa; his siblings, Noreen Conte and husband Robert of St. Louis, Mo., Kevin and wife Lauren of Albany, N.Y., and Joan Pritchard and husband Michael of Albany; as well as his friends and housemates Alan Emtage, Michael Rhodes, and Bruce Williams. He also leaves several nieces and nephews and his beloved communities in Provincetown and Palm Springs.
Donations in Mark’s memory may be made to Outer Cape Health Services, an organization that was close to Mark’s heart.
