Marc Alan MacLauchlan, 56, of Tampa, FL, went to be with the Lord on Monday, November 25, 2024, after a courageous 10-year journey with Glioblastoma Brain Cancer. Marc is in his heavenly home for Christmas.
Marc was born on Sunday, October 13, 1968, in Richmond, VA, to Louise and Alan MacLauchlan where Marc spent the first ten years of life growing up alongside his older brother, Bryan MacLauchlan, and his younger twin brother (by ten minutes), Glenn MacLauchlan. As a young child, in Virginia, Marc learned to swim and was even jumping off the high dive by the early age of two. Marc was no stranger to the cold. He loved playing in the snow, sledding, and ice skating in the backyard on Lake Paige.
After Marc’s family moved to Florida in the late 1970s, Marc became involved in sports and loved the great outdoors. Growing up, he enjoyed water skiing, fishing, boating, spending time at the beach, riding his bike everywhere, and playing basketball, baseball, and football. During his short baseball career, he pitched a no hitter for the Dodgers of the Bon Air Division of the Huguenot Little League. Before playing football at Eisenhower Junior High School, he played for three years for the Brandon Broncos. He continued his football career at East Bay High School where he rarely came off the field. He played offense and defense, as well as special teams. Marc was named to the Hillsborough County All-County Preseason Team his senior year and was recruited by 28 colleges to play football including University of Miami, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Alabama, and Tennessee to name a few.
Aside from being an all-star athlete, Marc excelled in the classroom. He was selected by the school faculty and student body to receive the American Legion School Award in recognition of leadership, scholarship, and service. After graduating from East Bay High School in 1987, Marc was awarded a full scholarship to play Division I football at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
After reflecting on his first year at the Naval Academy, Marc opted to move closer to home and attended Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management in 1995.
As a teenager, Marc learned the value and importance of a strong work ethic. In high school, he worked at Pizza Hut. Throughout college, he financed his education by bartending at Chilis and Carrabba’s Italian Grill. Upon college graduation, Marc’s dedication to service afforded him the opportunity to become part of management at Carrabba’s and ultimately led to the position of proprietor of his own Carrabba’s franchise in Birmingham, Alabama.
Continuing his career in the service industry, Marc became a Facilities Service Manager for City Wide Facility Solutions in Denver, Colorado. He was living his best life year-round in the Rocky Mountains snowboarding during the winter and golfing and mountain biking the rest of the year.
The next chapter of Marc’s life began with a dream. In September of 2010, Marc booked a flight to Florida to visit Pete (Marc’s best friend since middle school) and Pete’s wife, Amy (Amie’s best friend since middle school) with a December trip planned to Disney World. What seemed like a dream come true, was what God had planned all along…. for Amy and Pete to introduce Marc to Amie.
In 2012, Marc moved back to Florida. On November 19, 2012, on Anna Maria Island, Marc married the love of his life, Amie, whom he affectionately called ”Gorgeous”. He instantly was enamored by his new role as husband to Amie and bonus dad to Sherwin and Cail. Marc was thankful every day that God had united the four of them. Marc loved spending time with Amie, Sherwin, and Cail watching the boys play sports or visiting Disney, Anna Maria Island, and Colorado, or hanging out at family get togethers, holidays, and birthday celebrations.
After his move to Florida, Marc continued to work at City Wide of Tampa Bay. He later served as Facilities Manager at St. James United Methodist Church and most recently worked as Property Adjuster at USAA.
On February 23, 2014, Marc began a new journey. The scans at the emergency room showed that Marc had a brain tumor and within 24 hours he had brain surgery to remove what would eventually be classified as Glioblastoma Brain Cancer. Marc remained tumor free for nearly 9 years. However, in January of 2023, his MRI showed new tumor growth and in June of 2023, Marc underwent a second brain surgery. Over the last 22 months since the recurrence of his brain cancer, Marc endured countless procedures, ER visits, doctor appointments, scans, and therapies. Marc was courageous, a fearless and faithful fighter. He faced every day with the belief that God was in control. Throughout his 10-year, 9-month cancer journey, not once did he complain about his cancer diagnosis or ask, “why me?” Marc was grateful for the love, guidance, and support his neurooncology team showed him. He was thankful for the opportunity to share his love for Jesus during his speech at the annual American Brain Tumor Association’s Breakthrough for Brain Tumors 5K in March of 2024.
Above all, if there was one thing Marc would want you to know about him, it would be that he was a Christian… a child of the One True King, a faithful follower of Jesus, a scripture sharing son, a believer in the good times and the bad. A few of his favorite things to do were reading the Bible, listening to contemporary Christian music on the JOY FM app, serving by helping others, going to church with Amie and the family, and planning date night at Christian concerts. God was the center of his life!
Marc is survived by his devoted wife of 12 years, Amie Adum Simmons-MacLauchlan; his bonus children Sherwin P. Simmons, III and Cail A. Simmons, Tampa; mother Louise MacLauchlan, Riverview; brothers Bryan MacLauchlan (Leslie), Brandon and Glenn MacLauchlan (Micheline), New Boston, NH; Aunt Bonnie MacLauchlan, San Antonio, FL; Uncle Richard MacLauchlan, Riverview; and a multitude of extended family and loving friends. He was preceded in death by his father Alan MacLauchlan.
A celebration of life will be held at 11:00 am, Saturday, December 7th, 2024, at Bridgeway Church, 30660 Wells Road, Wesley Chapel, FL. Marc's celebration of life will be streamed on the Bridgeway Church website, https://www.bridgeway.tv/ OR
https://bridgewaytampa.online.church/.
If you desire to make a memorial donation, it can be made in Marc’s name to the American Brain Tumor Association.
Previous Events
Celebration of Life Service
7
Dec
30660 Wells Road
Wesley Chapel, FL 33545
Marc's celebration of life will be streamed on the Bridgeway Church website, https://www.bridgeway.tv/ OR https://bridgewaytampa.online.church/.
American Brain Tumor Association
Attn: Phil Samuels, Director of Accounting
Chicago, IL 60631-3225
