MARK KESSENICH, BUSINESSMAN AND BENEFACTOR, DIES

Mark Kessenich

Mark F. Kessenich Jr., an MDA national vice president and the founder of the Kessenich Family MDA/ALS Center at the University of Miami, passed away on March 20.

Kessenich died from the effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease he was found to have in 1994. He was 62.

Despite the progressive effects of ALS, Kessenich remained an active and successful businessman for several years. He was best known in Wall Street circles for his successful bond trading operations, which thrived in the 1980s and 1990s.

Kessenich, who had residences in Westhampton, N.Y., and Palm Beach, Fla., applied the same tenacity that made him a bond market legend to the fight against ALS.

Having received treatment at the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Center at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, he wanted to ensure that a similar center for people with ALS would be available in Florida. So Kessenich and his family dedicated themselves to fund-raising initiatives and the establishment of the Kessenich Family MDA/ALS Center Term Endowment Fund to create a center that would provide the highest level of ALS care.

The $3 million fund began with a $1.75 million donation to MDA from the Kessenich Family Charitable Trust, and made possible the opening of the Miami center on March 4, 1998.

The center, which operates through the Department of Neurology at the university's School of Medicine, conducts ALS research and provides a full range of services from medical care to physical therapy to social support for ALS patients and their families.

"Mark Kessenich was an unselfish crusader who'll be fondly remembered for his remarkable courage and generosity. We're deeply saddened by his passing," MDA Senior Vice President and Executive Director Robert Ross said. "MDA will continue to strive for the goals he shared of improving the quality of life of people with ALS and, of course, of ultimately wiping out the disease altogether."

Kessenich is survived by three children, a sister and eight grandchildren. His wife, Beverly, died in 2000.

More information about the Kessenich Family Center can be found on the Internet at www.miami-als.org.