Funeral Mass in celebration of Mark Lee Dombroski
It was a year ago when John Dombroski was in a water-skiing accident, finding himself dazed in water with rope wrapped around his arm — an accident so serious he almost lost his arm.
"I remember floating in the water after being knocked unconscious for a few seconds and looking up. The first sight I see is my brother Mark jumping in, trying to help," John said at Mark's standing-room-only funeral service at Archmere Academy on Saturday, nearly three weeks after the 19-year-old fell to his death in Bermuda.
A year after the water-skiing accident, John and his brother Kevin found themselves there for their younger brother. As hundreds of people searched Bermuda for Mark after he disappeared on March 18, it was John and Kevin who discovered their brother's body.
Just as Mark had been there for them over the years, they were the first ones by his side after tragedy struck, a moment not lost on their mother, Lisa.
"Lisa describes it as a gift from God — something extraordinary," the Rev. Joseph McLaughlin said at Saturday's service, which was overflowing with Mark's family, friends, teammates and coaches.
A standout athlete who earned 11 tournament MVPs and coach's awards in six different sports, Mark graduated from Archmere last year and was a freshman at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia at the time of his death.
He, along with his father, John, and the rest of the Dombroskis, was in Bermuda with the university's rugby team for the Ariel Re Bermuda International 7s rugby tournament last month when Mark died.
Flanked by her husband and sons, Lisa Dombroski, of Media, Pennsylvania, spoke to The News Journal before the service, reflecting on the support the family received.
With a son so taken with sports, the Dombroskis spent plenty of late afternoons on the sidelines at Archmere or on the road at tournaments, usually with a tent, grill and buckets of Rita's Water Ice.
"Our hearts are full of sadness and despair, but it also brings back so many happy memories [being back]," Lisa Dombroski said as bagpipes wheezed somberly nearby. "Archmere has been so good to us and have been such a family to us. They've lifted us up."
Mark was last seen around 1:30 a.m. on March 18 after leaving the Dog House, a bar in Hamilton, Bermuda's capital.
It took 24 hours before Mark was found by his brothers in a dry moat at the bottom of a 35-foot cliff.
The discovery came after Lisa spoke at a press conference in Bermuda alongside police officials to raise awareness about her son's disappearance. After Mark was found, an investigation ruled out foul play. Officials disclosed that Mark's cellphone and wallet were found with him.
Some of Mark's teammates served as pallbearers Saturday at both the service and at Calvary Cemetery in Media.
"We always knew he was a special light in our family, but he was also a good kid to a lot of people, helping friends through tough times," Lisa added. "I think his purpose in life was to bring joy to people. There's a lot of sadness that we experience in life, and I think he really focused on the right things. His priorities were right. He wasn't a straight-A student, but he took the time to help other people."
Speaking at the service, Mark's brother John echoed his mother's words.
"We always knew how special of a kid he was, but it's beautiful to hear about all the lives he impacted in such a positive way," he added. "So many different people came up to me and told me how they were shy or didn't have many friends. Mark would always go out of his way to make them feel welcome and loved. Whether it was sitting and having lunch with them or being a shoulder to cry on, Mark was there."
Mark's rugby coach at Archmere, David Niu, has seen his fair share of good rugby players. After all, the Australian-American former rugby player is the one who founded the United States' first professional rugby league in 1997.
He described his speedy standout player as a "slender streak of lighting" who led on the field and off.
"He would challenge you to coach him. His cheeky grin after he went left when you told him to go right — he would charm you and then disarm you," Niu said.
When it came to disarming people, Mark's secret weapon was his big smile, usually accompanied with a thumbs-up — a pose he struck so often that an entire poster board at the service was covered just with images of his grin framed by thumbs on each side.
Niu choked up toward the end of his 15-minute tribute when he mentioned that Mark's favorite comic strip was Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson:
"It's a cartoon series about a young boy, Calvin, and his adventures with his toy tiger Hobbes. On behalf of Mark, I think Hobbes has a message for us all: 'I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can play together all night.'"
In lieu of flowers, the family asked that contributions be made to the newly formed Mark Dombroski Foundation, which will focus on youth education, athletics and safety. Donations are accepted online at gofundme.com/mark-dombroski or by mail c/o James Flanagan & Associates, 28 W. Eagle Road, Suite 204, Havertown, PA 19083.
MORE ABOUT MARK DOMBROSKI:
► Body of former Archmere Academy rugby player missing in Bermuda found
► No cause of death for former Archmere student found dead in Bermuda
Mark Dombroski, 19, an Archmere Academy grad, appears to have died from a high fall, according to authorities in Bermuda, where his body was found March 18. Dombroski, a St. Joseph's University freshman, was in Bermuda for a rugby tournament. Esteban Parra/The News Journal
Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).
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