A Legacy of Care

Mark's memories of life at UT are full of the dramatic ups and downs of the era, from celebrating the national championship in football in 1969 to witnessing a major campus protest after the Kent State shootings in 1970, and even being teargassed as a curious onlooker. "I don't think there'll be another class that participates in a national championship and also sees that kind of huge protest," he says. "I felt pretty fortunate, and a lot of things I learned are still very applicable."

Mark worked throughout college, washing dishes at private residence halls for his dinners and for a little spending money. It was also at UT, on the then dirt track behind Jester Hall, that he picked up his lifelong love of running. As an adult, he's run more than 15 marathons, including several in Boston and New York.

In terms of academics, Mark took his time settling on a path in life, taking advantage of the flexible curriculum in Plan II, which he recalls fondly as "kind of an upper-level version of going to Luby's Cafeteria - you can choose the courses you want to take." At the same time, he was receiving letters from high school friends stuck in rainy foxholes in Vietnam. Before long, Holt began to see the positives of extending his studies at medical school and carrying on the family tradition.

"It was not an enthusiastic 'Yay, this is what I've wanted to do this all my life.' It was, 'Okay, I know I can handle this,'" he explains. Still, he adds, "I'm a great believer in serendipity. You know, things happen for a purpose, but sometimes not in the way you'd counted on. I enjoyed being a pediatrician, and I wouldn't trade it for the world."

Before retiring, Mark practiced in the Lewisville area of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex for about four decades. This allowed him to build deep connections to the families he worked with, often over multiple generations.

"It gives you a sense of continuity," he says. "You know the family - their background and the kinds of challenges they've had - and you know what expectations are built in from their parents, who are now the grandparents. That's meaningful."

Mark did not enter the medical profession expecting major financial rewards, given his father's experience. But as he built up his practice - and stayed humble in other habits, including remaining in the same house for over 40 years - he found himself well rewarded financially.

"I've always felt really fortunate for that," he says. "But I've also learned that whatever you do, you're not doing it just for yourself."