For nearly a decade, a Maryland woman regularly saw the same name pop up when her family ordered from Domino’s in Denton. Mark.
She estimates that nine times out of 10, the Domino’s tracker would tell her that Mark was making their order. She never really knew who Mark was and even assumed the names shown on the tracker might not mean much. Then she learned that Mark was real, and that he had died.
“Today I saw a post on our town’s happenings page that their manager Mark who had been there for 14 years had passed away,” she wrote on Threads. “I always assumed that the order tracker was totally BS, but now I am reading about this wonderful human who fed my family and made my Friday nights easier.” She ended the post, “RIP Denton MD Domino’s Mark.”
The Denton Domino’s recently announced the death of its longtime general manager, sharing a tribute to the man who had spent the past 14 years working at the restaurant and becoming a familiar presence to customers and coworkers. They identified him only as Mark.
The restaurant remembered Mark as loyal, hardworking and someone whose personality was impossible to miss. “You could never be in the store with him without hearing him singing,” the restaurant shared. His playlist could include ’80s hair bands, Ozzy Osbourne and Green Day before unexpectedly shifting to songs from Aladdin, The Lion King or The Little Mermaid.
He was also known for sneaking up on coworkers with a loud “HEY, HOW YOU DOING?!” and for his love of sitcoms and television shows including The Office, Seinfeld, Friends and Supernatural. But it was Mark’s relationship with customers that perhaps best explains why a person who never met him could still feel his absence.
According to the restaurant, Mark built relationships with many regular customers during his 14 years at the store. He greeted customers by name when they came in and would sometimes call longtime customers if the restaurant hadn’t heard from them in a while.
“His dedication to this company did not go unnoticed,” the Denton Domino’s wrote. “His presence is already deeply missed, and the store simply won’t be the same without him.” The restaurant concluded its tribute with some of the things Mark loved outside of work. “I hope you’re somewhere enjoying all the dogs, fishing, coffee, and junk food you could ever want.”
For one customer, the tribute also gave new meaning to a name that had appeared on a screen during countless family pizza nights. For years, she knew only that Mark was making the pizza. Now she knows a little bit about the person who was making it.
