Mark Ketcham, March 9, 1956 — March 6, 2014

Former Shelter Island Public Works Commissioner and Highway Superintendent Mark Ketcham, 57, has died, just days short of his 58th birthday.

Details were unavailable about funeral arrangements, but the Reporter will post them as soon as they become available.

Mr. Ketcham led the Public Works and Highway Department from 2002 through 2011 before retiring in January 2012 when he chose not to seek re-election.

“Mark was such an easy, kind soul,” said Jay Card Jr., the man who succeeded Mr. Ketcham as public works and highway chief. He credited Mr. Ketcham with getting the department in good shape, noting he was instrumental in getting a new highway barn built and securing needed trucks for the department.

“He did a really good job progressing the department,” Mr. Card said.

Mr. Ketcham, who had been a Shelter Island resident since 1968, is survived by his wife, Giovanna, and two children, Barbara and John.

Besides his work with the town, Mr. Ketcham served as vice president of the Suffolk County Superintendents of Highways and was a director with the Long Island Sanitation Officials Association.

He was a member of the Lions Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Shelter Island Historical Society and Ducks Unlimited. A former Shelter Island Fire Department member,  Mr. Ketcham was also on the Youth Advisory Board and director of the Youth Center. He was a member of  the Long Island Arborist Association and the Shelter Island Garden Club.

“I am saddened and mourn Mark’s passing,” said Supervisor Jim Dougherty. “I salute Mark and thank him for all the wonderful contributions he made” to the department and to so many other Island groups.