by Theo Salisbury
Dear sisters, and brothers,
Below is an obituary, or memorial remembrance, for our brother Mark Sanelli. I hope this is apt, is solemn, yet communicates some feeling, and will serve its purpose well enough on Mark’s behalf:
On Wednesday November 17th 2020 I received an email from Marlene Sanelli, sister of Mark Sanelli, to let me know that Mark had died that morning of lung cancer. Symptoms had first appeared in March, yet, she said, he had not expected to die when he did. Mark had lived with his sister in San Jose for the last 20-25 years.
Mark (originally Bill) was of Sicilian ancestry, thin and dark, a heavy smoker. He was a Navy veteran and for a long time a long-haul truck driver. He was well-read, self-educated, and smart. Mark had been opened in 1970 in the Palo Alto Subud Center, when it was housed in the Human Institute (started by the late Husain Chung and Reynold Bean). I got to know Mark when he was an applicant and participated in his opening. He was one of the most honest and sincere people I ever met, though stubborn and sometimes uncompromising. He and I had an on-off relationship for years, yet I considered him a good friend.
He, along with my two sisters and me, had joined the Subud San Jose Center when, following Husain Chung’s lead, it spun off from the Palo Alto Center in the mid-to-late 1980s, before being reabsorbed about 4 years later. A few years after rejoining Subud Palo Alto, Mark received to be a helper. He went to the then-men-helpers and asked them to confirm his receiving through testing, which they did. He was officially approved by whomever was then approving helpers. But Mark’s attempts to work with the other helpers, or theirs with him, eventually failed. I only ever heard his side of the story, but suspect that both sides bore some responsibility for this failure.
I’m sad. I will miss Mark a lot, though I haven’t seen him in person since 2003, when he ably assisted me in doing latihan and testing on behalf of my brother, Winfield Salisbury II, who had been stricken with a burst brain aneurysm. Win had been opened not very many years before, but living in northeast San Jose had had little or no opportunity to participate in group latihan. Soon after my brother’s death, Mark had declared himself a regional member, and never after went to the Palo Alto Center for group latihan. He continued to think of himself as a helper, and so did I.
I ask all who feel so moved to dedicate prayers and latihans to Mark. Marlene suggested that anyone wishing to donate to a charity in Mark’s name could donate to the Audubon Society. Mark was a great bird lover.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Theodore Richard Salisbury,
Subud California at Sacramento