St. Paul’s office administrator retires after 41 years

If you attended a service at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in the past 40-plus years, chances are you ran into Mark Ewing. He may have been putting out donuts for fellowship between services, opening the building for a community group, worshiping at the 8:15 service, covering the front office, counting the offering, changing light bulbs in the commons or any number of other duties he has performed since he began working at St. Paul's as a clerical assistant and sexton in 1982.

Ewing, 66, retires June 25 as St. Paul’s office administrator.

Ewing is a native of Waynesville, Missouri, where he lived on a farm with his mother, Wanda, and older siblings, Judi and Bill. The family moved to Las Cruces when Ewing was a young child and began attending St. Paul’s.

Mark attended Mayfield High School and while a member of the U.S. Air Force ROTC at Mayfield, he met Lupita Chavez, to whom he proposed on Valentine’s Day 1976. They were married five months later, on June 26. Daughter Michelle was born in 1977, and daughter Brandi in 1986.

In 1984, after two years at St. Paul’s, Ewing became office administrator of the church. He graduated from New Mexico State University with a degree in sociology soon after.

Mark and Lupita became sponsors of a Sunday school class at St. Paul’s and Mark also taught Sunday school. The couple started L&M Christian Homecare in the early 2000s.

Ewing has been a long-time participant in the Men Who Cook fundraiser for Mesilla Valley Hospice. He won first place at the 2019 event with the Rockin' Rum Cake with Rollin' Rum Sauce dessert he created with daughter Michelle.

In retirement, Mark and Lupita look forward to traveling and spending more time with their daughters and two grandchildren.

"There is much work to be done in our community reaching people for Christ,” Ewing said as he prepares to retire, “and I look forward to the privilege of making disciples for Christ and transforming lives from the heart of Las Cruces."