Mark Bremer lived his life as a student, a trumpet player, a cross country runner, a friend, a brother, a confidante, a hummer of Stevie Wonder, an actor who wrote knock-knock jokes onstage, and as a beloved son who knew how to make people laugh.

After battling with depression and mental illness for far too long, Mark took his own life on Oct. 29. He was 16 years old.

“He was probably the funniest guy anyone would ever meet. He could always crack a joke, and it was always at the right time, too. He would have this really loud laugh, and you could hear it from halfway across the school,” said Jessica Rusciano, sophomore.

Mark spent his life in Hopkins and became musically inclined early, learning to play the trumpet in fifth grade at Glen Lake Elementary School. In seventh grade at West Junior High, he joined the jazz band, and in his sophomore year, he joined LMPM at HHS.

“Everyone knew him and knew that he was a friendly, happy-go-lucky guy,” said Cole Polyak, sophomore. “To this day in band class, if I am offbeat in a measure of rest, I turn to Mark and go, “Where are we?”, and he’s not there anymore.”

He was a constant presence in band, always showing up on time to morning rehearsals whenever he was needed.

“There was no person in the school who didn’t like him. If someone was being mean to him, he would retaliate by being nice. He was nice to everyone,” Rusciano said.

Beginning in ninth grade, he also acted and joined the tech crew for theater, working closely with Holly Anderson and Natalie Foster, the technical director and director for the HHS Theater Program, respectively.

“I really miss having his hands in the [prop] shop, because I could ask him to do something, and he would always do it,” Anderson said. “He was the guy I could count on to get something done.”

Not only could Mark be counted on for his work ethic backstage, but for his sense of humor onstage as well.

“During This is a Test [one of the winter one-act plays last year], Mark had a small part. He was supposed to create these signals to other people in the cast that had certain meanings, and they were all scripted. But, no, Mark was always thinking,” Foster said. “Every time we would run that section, he would do something a little different, and everybody onstage tried to keep it together, but it was just sly. It was just silly, smart humor.”

In conjunction with Mark’s parents, the HHS Theater Program is planning to create a permanent tribute in Mark’s memory.

“He said [to me], ‘I feel like everyone’s against me,’ but it was the complete opposite. He was so smart, and he was loved by everyone,” Rusciano said.