| Mark D. Sanchez
PLYMOUTH - Mark “Spike” Sanchez, 56, passed away on Monday, September 1, 2019 after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. Born at Wentworth Douglas Hospital in Dover, NH to Shirley (Hull-Ryde) and Matthew Sanchez, Mark grew up in Durham and attended Oyster River High School. He relocated to Plymouth in 1988, where he married his first wife Tina Dickson of York, ME. Together they raised two children, Matthew (29) and Molli (27). Spike and Tina divorced in 2001. In 2009 he married long-time friend and Oyster River alum Matty Leighton; they divorced earlier this year.
Spike was an entrepreneur and a man of many talents who reinvented himself throughout his life. He owned a variety of businesses, including a music store, a sound engineering firm, a garage (A-One Engine Works), a carpentry business (SanchCo Contracting), and a maple sugaring operation (Spike’s Shack o’ Sugar). He was also a drummer who played in a number of bands and did studio work. He liked to describe his work with SanchCo as “impossible framing and fine finish work,” and he took great pleasure in devising clever solutions to challenges that developed on the job site, in the sugar house, or around the home. A friend commented upon hearing of his passing, “God must have needed something constructed that only Spike could build.”
Spike was known for his big heart and generous nature. He was a loving and supportive father, and he looked after his mother, who lived with him in Plymouth, until his death. He often used his mechanical skills to help out friends with car trouble, and he supported a number of local organizations with donations of maple products. He was always available to lend a helping hand where it was needed.
Spike was predeceased by his father, Matthew. He is survived by his children Matthew Sanchez and Molli (Sanchez) Ruiter (Abe), sisters Nancy Sanchez, Cheryl Sanchez, and Judy (Sanchez) Flather (Richard), brother Matthew Sanchez (Kathy), and an extended family including many nieces, nephews, and Hull-Ryde aunts, uncles, and cousins.
A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, September 7, at 3:30 at Mayhew Funeral Home, 12 Langdon Street, Plymouth. In lieu of flowers the family requests contributions to the NH Humane Society, 1305 Meredith Center Road, Laconia NH.
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