Reverend A. Mark Conard, 68, of Hutchinson, died Oct. 18, 2016, at Via Christi on St. Francis Campus, Wichita. He was born June 22, 1948, in Ashland, the son of Reverend Arlyn E. and Mary L. (Mast) Conard.

Mark grew up in a variety of Methodist parsonages in Ashland, Sylvia, Coats, Arlington, and St. John. He graduated from St. John High School in 1966 and was an Eagle Scout. Mark attended Southwestern College in Winfield, graduating in 1970 with a double major (Bible, Religion, and Philosophy and French). His seminary work was at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, MO, where he received a Master of Divinity in 1974. Mark attended graduate school at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, VA, receiving a Master of Theology in 1975 and a Doctorate of Theology in 1979. He was ordained as a Deacon in the Kansas West Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1971 and Elder in 1979.

Mark served as pastor in the Kansas West Conference of the United Methodist Church at Geneseo, Maize-Bentley, Wichita-Pleasant Valley, Hutchinson First, and was Salina District Superintendent from 2001-2013. He also served on the General Commission on Archives and History, the General Commission on Communication, and five times as a delegate to the general and jurisdictional conference. Mark was an instructor in the Course of Study for licensed local pastors of the United Methodist Church at St. Paul School of Theology. He was also active in setting up Chabadza partnerships in the Great Plains Conference and Zimbabwe Episcopal Area of the United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe, Africa.

Mark married Joyce M. Fieser on Aug. 21, 1971, in Plains. She survives. Other survivors include: sons, Jonathan (Melissa) Conard of Sterling, Andrew (Nicole) Conard of El Dorado; daughter, Kristin Conard of Santa Cruz, CA; and four grandchildren, Katie, Jenna, John, and Anne. He was preceded in death by: his parents and step mother, Alice Conard.

Funeral service will be 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016, at First United Methodist Church, 101 E. 1st Ave., Hutchinson, with the Reverends Jeff Slater, Nick Warner, and Jim Reed officiating. Burial will be 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 24, 2016, in the Larned City Cemetery, Larned. Friends may call from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday, at Elliott Mortuary, Hutchinson. The family will receive friends from 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m., Sunday, at First United Methodist Church.

Memorials may be made to the Arlyn E. Conard Memorial Endowed Scholarship at Southwestern College, Winfield, or First United Methodist Church, Hutchinson, in care of Elliott Mortuary, 1219 N. Main, Hutchinson, KS 67501.