Mark Steven Schwerke, 67, of Shawano, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by the people he loved most.
Mark was born April 28, 1959, in Shawano. On April 3, 1982, he married his high school sweetheart, Jane Dillenberg, at St. James Lutheran Church in Shawano. Their marriage of more than 44 years became the foundation of the life Mark treasured most—a life centered on faith, family, home and taking care of the people he loved.
Mark proudly served his country for more than two decades in the United States Army, retiring Aug. 31, 2004. An accomplished Army aviator, Mark served as a CH-47 Chinook pilot, instructor pilot, maintenance test pilot and flight examiner, including service with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. His career earned him numerous military honors, including the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, two Meritorious Service Medals, two Army Commendation Medals, four Army Achievement Medals and numerous other decorations and commendations.
Those accomplishments would have made for quite a story — if Mark had ever been willing to tell it.
He was a private and humble man who rarely spoke about his achievements and certainly never gloated about them. Mark was quiet and reserved, with the discipline and high expectations of a lifelong military man. Beneath that hard outer shell, however, was an enormous heart. Somewhere along the way, his fellow servicemen even gave the hard-nosed Army guy the nickname “Sweetness.” Those who knew him best understood just how fitting the name actually was.
After retiring from the Army, Mark began working for Boeing in 2006 in Philadelphia, where he spent 10 years as a pilot and chief pilot. Aviation was more than a career for Mark; it was a field in which he quietly excelled. He earned a master’s in professional aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and accumulated a long list of professional qualifications and achievements throughout his career.
As impressive as his professional life was, however, Mark’s greatest pride was never found on a uniform, résumé or medal. It was his family.
Mark was a family man through and through. He loved fishing, hunting, fixing just about anything with an engine, remodeling houses and working with his hands. He was happiest at home, working on his retirement dream home along the Wolf River, or spending time at the family’s trailer up north.
There may have been some hunting happening there, but as the years went on, it became a lot less about hunting and a lot more about sitting around with family and friends, telling stories, laughing and making memories.
Mark was also famously careful with a dollar. He might grumble that his family was draining him of every cent he had, but everyone knew better. When one of his people needed something, there wasn’t much Mark wouldn’t give, fix, build, remodel or do for them.
He loved his family deeply and showed that love in the way that came most naturally to him — not always with words, but through a lifetime of showing up.
His faith was equally important to him. Mark was a devoted Lutheran whose faith remained a constant throughout his life and gave him strength through both its blessings and its trials.
Mark faced more than his share of those trials. He battled esophageal cancer and beat it. Later, he was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, a rare form of dementia that gradually took away his ability to communicate. With so little certainty about the disease or how much time they would have, his family treasured the additional years they were given with him. Even as words became difficult and eventually disappeared, Mark was still there, and so was his love for his family.
Perhaps that was fitting for a man who had never needed many words to begin with. Mark’s actions had always said what mattered most.
He fought hard throughout his life, and he fought just as hard at the end. His family will remember the accomplished soldier and pilot, the mechanic and fixer, the fisherman and hunter, the hard-ass affectionately known as “Sweetness,” the devoted husband, father and grandfather, and above all, the man who would do absolutely anything for the people he loved.
Mark is survived by his wife and high school sweetheart, Jane; his children, Benjamin (Anna) Schwerke, Brandon Schwerke and Catelyn (Adam) Schwerke; his grandchildren, Arthur Schwerke and Max Schwerke; his mother, Betty Lemke; his brother, Michael (Sue) Schwerke; his sisters-in-law, Patty (Steve) Gonzalez and Ginny (Steven) Berndt; as well as his best friend, “Brother Tom Cotter”; and many treasured aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and Army and AMVETS friends.
He was preceded in death by his father, Percy Schwerke; his sister, Jennifer Ploman; his niece, Erin Ploman; his parents-in-law, Ruth and Paul Dillenberg; and his siblings-in-law, Cathy Dillenberg and Dan Dillenberg.
A Lutheran service celebrating Mark’s life and faith will be held at noon Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, at St. James Lutheran Church in Shawano, with Rev. David Kaiser officiating. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. at the church and continue until the time of the service.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to St. James Lutheran School in Mark’s memory.
www.swedbergfuneralhome.com
