Mark Anthony

Mark Anthony, 62, of Water Valley, passed away at home with his devoted wife, Claudia Smith Anthony and five fur babies by his side.
Mark was born in 1962 in Memphis, TN to his parents, John Russell, and Mable (Mathis) Anthony. Mark attended school in Memphis before moving to Louisville, KY where he graduated high school. He then moved to Water Valley and was reunited with the love of his life.
Mark proudly served in the U.S. Navy and returned home where he graduated from Northwest Mississippi Community College with a degree in Electronics.
In November 1984, Mark and Claudia were married and began their lives of almost 40 years together. They spent most of their time together sharing the same interests ranging from sports to collecting memorabilia. Their travels gave them lifelong friends. They shared a love of photography and through this love, he was given the opportunity to photograph his favorite sports of football and baseball at Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Northwest Mississippi Community College. In addition, he photographed Water Valley High School and Coffeeville High School sports for the North Mississippi Herald and Bruce High School football for the Calhoun Journal.
He also spent as much time as possible fishing at Wildcats! He and Claudia had their own fishing competitions and he also loved searching for arrowheads when he had time. He loved his fur babies, exploring, and working in his hand-built shop. Mark was a Mr. Fixit and could build or rebuild anything. He loved tinkering with things and figuring out how something worked.
He worked in several jobs centered around electronics and network management - his last position was Network Administrator in the Geology Department at Ole Miss. Outside of his career, Mark was a member of VFW Post 4100 in Water Valley and the Football Writers' Association of America.
Mark and Claudia were members of Campground Baptist Church and were both baptized in October 2015. Mark was blessed to be part of a mission trip to Nicaragua in 2017.
Mark is survived by his wife of 40 years, Claudia Smith Anthony; brother Claud R Anthony (Nancy) of Water Valley; sisters Mary Dickey of Saltillo and Jeanette Whitehead of Water Valley; brother and sister-in-law Alex and Sue Smith of Oakland; sister-in-law Patti Johansen Anthony of Ohio; fur babies Morgan, Daisy, Eli, Otis, & Maggie; plus many nieces, nephews and cousins.
Mark is preceded in death by his parents John Russell Anthony and Mable Mathis Anthony, brother James Rayford "Jimmy" Anthony and mother-in-law Mary J "Jackie" Smith.