Dr. Mark Hassel

Mark Hassel died in his wife’s arms early in the morning on January 25th following a 19 month battle with stomach cancer.  He was 47 years old. 

Mark Hassel was born, raised and educated in Lancaster County.  He was the third of four sons of Joan Crawford Reid and Dr. C. Walter Hassel.  He attended Penn Manor High School, Millersville, and Franklin & Marshall College.  After completing his medical training at Jefferson Medical College, internship at St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem, PA, dermatology residency at The Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, GA, and fellowship in Mohs Surgery and Laser Surgery at NYU Medical Center in New York City, Mark built a thriving dermatology practice in Lancaster, where he successfully treated thousands of people young and old. 

While at Jefferson, Mark shared a small room in a fraternity house on 10^th Street in Philadelphia and drove a dented and rusting 1970 Volkswagen Beetle. Despite the humble circumstances in which he studied medicine, Mark’s four years at Jefferson were formative ones as he laid the foundation for a successful career in medicine.  Mark met his wife, Jennifer Evanson, in his second year of medical school while both of them were training for a triathlon. They married in 1986 after Mark completed his internship.  During Mark’s fellowship in New York, the couple had their first child, Erin Elizabeth, and returned to Lancaster in 1991 to a small apartment on Wheatland Avenue.  Mark opened the doors to his solo dermatology practice in August, 1996.  Mark was a gifted physician who was loved by his staff and his patients.  He will be remembered for his rare sense of humor and caring, compassionate nature.

Despite the intensive demands of his medical practice, Mark was dedicated to spending time with his family and traveling.  Mark was an endurance athlete all his life and enjoyed swimming, biking, skiing and hiking.  He was also an active member of Millersville Bible Church and taught Kindergarten Sunday School for many years.

In 2002 Mark bought a parcel of land on Noll Drive near Lancaster General Hospital with plans to develop two medical office buildings including a free standing dermatological surgery center.  It was a massive undertaking in light of Mark’s existing practice and his commitments to his church and family. Over the course of three years, with the help of his wife, his medical consultant, area bankers and accountants, the project came to life and on April 14, 2005, he broke ground. 

Though the groundbreaking represented the height of his professional career, it was followed just a month and a half later by the heart wrenching diagnosis of adenocarcinoma of the stomach with metastases to the liver. This cancer, the family would later learn, is aggressive and difficult to treat.

Despite the very discouraging statistics on survival with this form of cancer, Mark and his wife mounted an impressive campaign to fight the disease under the care of noted oncologist Dr. Daniel A. Laheru of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University.  In life, Mark demonstrated superb athletic abilities which included competition in countless triathlons, infamous 4.4 mile Chesapeake Bay swims, and near daily two mile swims.  Consequently, he was able to endure an aggressive chemotherapy regimen which enabled him to win many battles against his cancerous foe. 

His fight gained notoriety with a web site which chronicled his battle with cancer and which drew more than 100,000 visitors, 2,700 letters of encouragement from friends and family, and 96 lovingly written journal entries from his wife, which chronicled her husband’s victories and set backs during his courageous fight. This in turn prompted a news segment by Lancaster’s WGAL about Mark and his family and raised awareness of adenocarcinoma and the need for more research into the disease. 

One of the journal entries on the site was written by Mark and began as follows:  “I am accustomed to being the one in charge of caring for others. It has been a growing and humbling experience for me to be on the receiving end from so many, so often. For me, this is perhaps the most difficult adjustment I have had to make. Just the same, it is an absolute delight to watch God work through His people. The love that you all have shown to me and my family is a great gift from God and I am so thankful for His gifts through all of you.”

In addition to his parents and wife, Dr. Mark Hassel is survived by his three children, Erin Elizabeth, Emily Patricia, and Carson Mark, all at home, three  brothers Eric Edward Hassel of Dillon, CO, husband of Melissa (Ferree), Kurt Walter Hassel, D.C., of Glen Burnie, MD and Garth Robert Hassel of Idaho Falls, ID, husband of Karen (Anttonen), brother-in-law, David Evanson of Swarthmore, PA, husband of Perri (Wright), and sister-in-law, Leslie Martin of Marlton, NJ. 

Mark Hassel was a Clinical Instructor at New York University, Department of Dermatology between 1989 and 1991.  From 2002 until his death he was a Clinical Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the Penn State College of Medicine at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA and from 1991 until his death he was a member of the teaching staff of the Dermatology Clinic for Family Medicine Residents at Lancaster General Hospital.  He earned diplomas from the National Board of Medical Examiners in 1986, and the American Board of Dermatology in 1989.  Dr. Hassel was a member of the American Medical Association, Pennsylvania Medical Society, Lancaster County Medical Society, Fellow, American Academy of  Dermatology, Fellow, American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, Fellow, American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, Fellow, American College of Mohs Micrographic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology, Fellow, Pennsylvania Academy of Dermatology, and Association of Academic Dermatologic Surgeons. 

A viewing will be held on Thursday, February 1 between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. at Calvary Church, 1051 Landis Valley Road, Lancaster, PA.  A memorial service celebrating the life of Mark Hassel will be held on February 2 at 6 p.m., also at the Calvary Church. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Millersville Bible Church, 1940 New Danville Pike, Lancaster, PA or to the The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at John Hopkins University, c/o Daniel A. Laheru, MD (Mark Hassel), The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Cancer Research Building, 1650 Orleans Street, G89, Baltimore, MD, 21231. Funeral arrangements by Charles F. Snyder Jr. Funeral Home and Chapel, Inc., 3110 Lititz Pike, Lititz, PA.