A LIFE WELL-LIVED ENDED MONDAY AT 74.

Byline: BETTIE RENCORET Senior columnist

LANCASTER - Mark Rencoret was a true patriot and a bona fide hero with four Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart to prove it.

First a sailor, then a soldier and finally an airman, he was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War with 15 years of active duty to his credit.

Like most men who have gone through major conflicts, he didn't like to talk about it. He particularly avoided any mention of his own bravery under fire.

He took some shrapnel in the groin when his boat was shot out from under him but he managed to drag two of his buddies, who were wounded, to shore before he collapsed there himself.

The memory of all that was too painful for him to talk about. When asked about it, he either clammed up or passed it off as nothing.

``Don't make a big deal of that,'' he would say. ``A lot of guys did a lot more.''

During his service time he traveled the world, to places like Australia, the Philippines, Europe.

He was even with the occupation forces in Japan.

When the Sept. 11, 2001, New York twin towers disaster occurred, he bemoaned the fact he was too old to enlist in the military again ``to help fight those cowardly terrorists.''

When he died Monday, it was only after 12 years of battling his private war against diabetes, complicated by heart disease and ultimately renal failure. For two years he endured dialysis three days a week.

Through it all he never lost his sense of humor or his spiritual faith. He was convinced that he would eventually get well because there were so many things he had to do yet.

Mark was born in Los Angeles to his French/Chilean father, Victor, and his Mexican mother, Mary Cadena, on March 31, 1927. He would have been 75 on Easter Sunday. He was one of seven children, four of whom survive him.

They are Felicitas Shermer of Norwalk; Connie Shaver of Oceanside; Victor Manuel Jr. of Sacramento; and John Rencoret of El Monte, Calif.

As a young man, he piloted a U.S. Navy landing craft, was an aircraft mechanic, acting flight engineer, a graphic artist, a retired Lockheed planning department supervisor, a building designer, general contractor and acrylics medium artist.

In his middle years, he worked for Pratt and Whitney, Pacific Airmotive, Northrop Aircraft and Lockheed. He worked on all of Lockheed's Star series planes, the Blackbird, the L-1011, and many others, both on the flight line and in the planning department.

He retired from Lockheed on June 30, 1990. He was a past commander of Lancaster American Legion Post 311 and past president of the Antelope Valley Allied Arts Association.

His own children are Robert John Rencoret of Tampa and Theresa Ann Elwood of Lancaster; and his two stepsons, Terry Robert Miller of Cedarville, Calif., and Daniel Blair Miller of Batavia, Ohio.

``He taught me how to be a good stepdad,'' said Daniel Miller.

He had nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

He loved dogs, and when his last little dachshund died a year ago, he couldn't stop mourning her. He longed to have another puppy but knew it would be impossible to take care of it now.

Even birds were not afraid of him. He mixed up his own nectar recipe to put out for the hummingbirds. They liked it so much they would sip and hum within an inch of his face.

He supported his wife fully in her every endeavor, was her greatest booster and critic, and every day of their 30 years together told her she was beautiful.

Services will be conducted by the Rev. Jim Ledgerwood at 1 p.m. Friday at Lancaster United Methodist Church, 918 West Ave. J.

He'll be laid to rest in the veterans section of Joshua Memorial Park, on the Avenue of the Flags, immediately following the ceremonies.

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Mark Rencoret

Was a patriot