Mourning the loss of a dear friend, Mark Pearson

The Concept Works mourns the loss of Mark Pearson, the well-known host of the public television program “Market to Market” and co-host of the WHO Radio “Big Show.”

Mark was only 54 when he passed away Sunday afternoon after suffering a heart attack on his farm near Winterset, Iowa. 

“Mark’s personality was just larger than life. He never met a stranger. He was just instantly friends with anyone he met. He was proud of his country, proud of his service in the Navy Reserves, proud of his work with ‘Market to Market’ and ‘The Big Show’, proud of his friendships with so many people in American agriculture and proud to have been affiliated with everyone at Edward Jones, but more than anything he was so very, very proud of his family. He loved Eden and their kids so much,” said Eric Woolson, owner of The Concept Works, Inc. “Mark became a client of The Concept Works in 2004 and we’ve always been so proud ourselves of that relationship. More importantly, though, he was one of the best friends anyone could have.  He is going to be missed by so much people, including those of us here.”

Mark was a farmer, small businessman, stockbroker and, as he said so accurately, a real raconteur. He’s being described today as a titan of agriculture and that’s so true. His national reputation for his agribusiness and rural issues expertise was well-earned. A former Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for the State of Iowa, he was named host of “Market To Market” in 1991 and was the host’s chair for more than 600 editions of the “Weekly Journal of Rural America.”