Saratoga Springs, NY Mark F. Costello, 81, of Collins Terrace, made his tee time in Heaven Tuesday morning, Oct. 4, 2011. He was the son of the late Mark A. and Cornelia (Miller) Costello of Sea Cliff, NY and was born in Glen Cove, NY on Sept. 4, 1930, just in time for the Great Depression. A well liked man, he was a great story and joke teller, always enjoying to please people. Very organized, he loved to plan construction projects and also developed check lists, charts, graphs and spread sheets. He also enjoyed sketching and water color paintings. An active participant in all kinds of sports, including swimming, fishing, camping, downhill and cross country skiing, skating, handball, racquetball, squash, tennis and golf, in his younger days he played soccer, track and gymnastics. Golf was his favorite sport, once achieving a 13 handicap. His best score was a 78 (with an out of bound ball). He had four eagles, yet never a hole in one. At the age of 56 when he first retired, he played 36 holes a day, with his most being 63 holes, yet to date he is embarrassed by his handicap. He belonged to the Saratoga YMCA and would work out at 5am, walk a half mile, then play 18 holes of golf. More recently, he would take a nap in the afternoon, and his wife, Jane, would give him candy to take in the golf cart to distribute to all the lady golfers. He was married to the former Jane R. Anderson for 60 years. He loved her very much; she was all he wished to be and she was his best asset. They had eight children. John died shortly after birth; Michael, a wonderful sculptor and artist died in a construction accident in 1992 at 30 years of age; Margaret, a retired school teacher; Nancy retired from a law office after 32 years and was a ballet dancer; Maureen is a nurse midwife and a very caring person; Mark, Jr., is a finish carpenter and a stain glass artist; Thomas is a farrier (horseshoe blacksmith) and Sean is a computer communication network person and a talented screenplay writer in Los Angeles. Very proud of his children, their families and accomplishments, he would write letters to them on Valentines Day. He and the family resided at various times in Sea Cliff, Glen Head, Floral Park, LI, Saratoga Springs and in Venice, FL. A graduate of Sea Cliff High School, Long Island A & T and Pratt Institute, he took courses at Adelphi College, the Art Student League and AMA. Mark also was a US Navy Seabees veteran of the Korean War. He worked for Sperry Gyroscope as a technical illustrator in 1952-53 and for the Westchester Racing Association in 1953-59 as well as for Kahn & Jacobs Architects from 1955-59. He began working for the New York Racing Association as construction planning assistant from 1955 to 1986 and served as manager of the Saratoga Race Course from 1968 to 1978. He became manager of Belmont Park Race Track in 1978 to 1980 and vice-president of NYRA properties from 1980 to 1986, when he retired. He later provided consulting work for NYRA, Four Winds Hospital, Saratoga Hospital and the Saratoga Golf and Polo Club. (continued on next page) (Mark F. Costello continued from previous page) He and his family were the happiest when he was given the additional duty as manager of the Saratoga Race Track in 1968. They all loved Saratoga, considering this their home. In 1978, he was forced to move to Belmont, yet always maintained a home in Saratoga Springs, planning his retirement to here in 1986. He was a member and president of the Saratoga Golf and Polo Club, past president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, co-chairman of the building committee planning the former downtown YMCA, United Fund campaign volunteer, the Mayors Committee for the citys convention center, a board member of the Saratoga Holiday Inn and numerous other civic organizations. He was a member and communicant of St. Clements Roman Catholic Church and served on the first parish council. Survivors include his loving wife, Jane R. Costello; three daughters, Margaret (James) Morrone of Saratoga Springs, Nancy Costello of New York City and Maureen Costello-Estrberg (Christopher) of Nyack, NY; three sons, Mark (Lisa) Costello, Jr. of Saratoga Springs, Thomas (Nancy) Costello of Saratoga Springs and Elmont, NY and Sean P. (Ann) Costello of Los Angeles, CA; four brothers, John, Paul, Cornelius and Kevin Costello; two sisters, Virginia Vergata and Cathy Romano; a sister-in-law, Joyce Kaufmann of Sea Cliff, NY; his grandchildren, Joshua and Sarah Morrone, Denise Collura, Kaitlin, Shannon, Nicholas August and Mark F. Costello, III and a great-grandson, Michael Thomas Collura. Relatives and friends may call from 4 to 7pm Thursday at the William J. Burke & Sons/Bussing and Cunniff Funeral Homes, 628 North Broadway 584-5373. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11am Friday in St. Clements Church, 231 Lake Ave., by the Rev. Neil Draves-Arpaia. Burial with military honors will be at 1pm Friday at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery, Schuylerville. Memorials may be made in his name to the EOC (Soup Kitchen) 40 New Street, or Community Hospice of Saratoga, 179 Lawrence St., Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. The family would like to extend deep gratitude to Dr. David Mastrianni, Dr. Thomas Klepetar and Pat Burgess and staff at Community Hospice for their kindness, care and compassion. Online remembrances may be made at www.burkefuneralhome.com.