On June 1, 2026, Mark Steven Gillen went to be with his Lord and Savior. Born in San Antonio, TX on January 27, 1987. The family moved to South Dakota in 1992. He graduated from Douglas High School in 2005 and entered the US Army with the Delayed Entry Program. During his time in the Army, he served two tours in Iraq. In March 2010, his dad, Michael J. Gillen, had the honor of swearing him into the Army National Guard in Rapid City, SD. Later he joined the National Guard unit in Redmond, OR and they were activated and sent to Afghanistan.

On March 1, 2014, he married Charia Brott. Their daughter, Ilsa, was born on Nov. 17, 2014, during his Afghanistan deployment. In July 2016, after being promoted to Sargant, he was honorably medically discharged from the Army.

Mark is preceded in death by his father, Michael J. Gillen, his paternal grandparents, Patricia and Joseph Gillen, his maternal grandfather, Charles Hines, and brother-in-law, Monty Vaughn.

He is survived by his ex-wife, Charia, daughter, Isla, mother, Karla, brother, Charles (Izzy), sisters, DJ (Rick) Carney, Anna (David) Carr, and Sheryl (Kent) Vaughn Wellman; nephews, Liam Carney, Patrick Carr, Boden and Atlas Gillen, and Kohan Vaughn Wellman; nieces, Ireland Carney, Madison, Caroline and Riley Carr, Harper and Ava Vaughn; grandmother, Arlene L. Hines, many aunts, uncles and cousins.