Jim Goodwin
Mark was a true professional - a first-rate shooter, serious about his work, but with a sense of humor. He was well-liked and well-respected in the freelance community. He will be missed.

Mark with the steadicam.	Photos courtesy of Jim Goodwin. These photos were all taken on a photo shoot on April 15, 2006.
Mark with Jim Goodwin (center) & Dan Oliver (right) on a shoot	Mark
Mark at work	Mark with York Phelps (right)

Former WRAL Co-Worker Leslie Bryant
(currently Administrative Assistant for the Associated Press in Raleigh)
I first met Mark (or "Cope" as we all called him) around 1990 when I was at the WPTF Chanel 28 and we too had a Wilson news bureau.  All three major stations had Eastern NC bureaus at the time, and they were a close-knit group in an office building on Tarboro Street in Wilson.

Mark (photo from Leslie Bryant)

Rumor has it when there was breaking news, the crews were literally following each other down the stairs of the same building and racing to see who could get to the scene first.

Of course the crews had an edge of competitiveness about them, yet they were all friends hanging out at shrimp roasts, high school football shoots and spaghetti parties.  Cope was definitely at all these event and extremely well-liked by everybody! 

Over the years, I kept in touch with Cope on email.  He always seemed to like the tidbits of information in my "letters from home", as Jimmy Axelrod calls them.  It's simply notes about how our old friends and colleagues are doing and what's up at our old stomping grounds.  Now, I sadly have to delete Cope from my address book. 

"Cope" with some of the WRAL crew (photo from Leslie Bryant)

I recall a Christmas event one year where an acquaintance referred to Cope as "The Wonder Bread Man".  It sounded like a very odd description at the time, but she explained it was because he represented all things good and pure white, like Wonder Bread.  That is how I would sum up Cope - all things good.  I bet the angels welcomed him with open arms.  Thank you.

WRAL-TV Sky5 Pilot Steve Wiley
Mark Copeland was my friend.

We met during my interview with the station in February of '88 and became good friends almost immediately. Copester was one of the best aerial shooters I've ever flown with.  He was always looking for ways to improve the shot and was never completely satisfied. He was more than just a shooter.  Often, we would fly some place, land, and set up a portable microwave signal so SKY5 could relay video back to the station.  He knew what it took to get the breaking story on the air and never gave up.

One day in the early years Mark Roberts, Copester and myself were flying to some location when he announced, "MY NAME'S NOT COPESTER IT'S MARK!"  We just laughed and said whatever you want "Copester" and he's been "Copester" ever since.  Those were good days. We flew together a lot and all over the place.  He was with Jim Axelrod and me for the flooding in Bainbridge, GA. Tony Gupton met us there with Livestar and it seems as if we did four or five packages a day!  We had a great time together, all working hard and laughing because the assignment desk could communicate with us on demand!  We gave them more than they wanted and loved that it drove it them crazy.

For whatever reason we didn't see each other as often over the past few years.  I made a point to drive over to his place on Labor Day, but he wasn't home.  I thought it was no big deal, I'll catch him later.  Now it haunts me.

The news of his death Tuesday caught Kevin and me completely by surprise.  We kept hoping he was the guy that survived.  I'm so sad that was not the case.

He died with his boots on...he would've liked that.  I miss him.

Former Colleague David Clary
(currently at WATO Radio Oak Ridge TN)
I had the pleasure to work with Mark in his first professional job at our local cable tv station. I was two years older and a sportscaster for our football and basketball games replayed on the local channel.
Mark and I traveled all over East Tennessee with the biggest camera you can imagine.This thing was so big it took up my entire trunk and must have weighed 100 pounds. You've got to remember this was 1980. We lugged that thing up and down ladders in and out of gyms for a couple of years. Mark wasn't just the camera man but he also wanted to be my color man as he shot the game. His knowledge of football was excellent but his knowledge of basketball wasn't so great. It was his comments in these games that I remember the most. Let us say they were interesting and I laugh every time I listen to some old tapes . I miss that unique sense of humor.

Mark was a  perfectionist even while he was in high school and hated to make mistakes. Just this past Labor Day he reminded of two mistakes he made back in 1981 that I had long since forgotten. One time we drove 35 miles to a game only to find out we had forgotten that big camera back at the station. This bugged him to no end. I drove my car back to get it hitting speeds of over 100 miles per hour and he wanted me to go faster so we wouldn't miss the start of the game. We didn't. We also did a game in Chattanooga one season in a not so good side of town. As we parked the car we were approached by some young kids telling us that for five dollars they would make sure the hubcaps were still on the car when we got back. This rattled him so much that he recorded nothing but color bars the entire game. 26 years later this bugged him like it was yesterday. Those might have been the only mistakes Mark ever made.

Mark and I had some great times and I got the chance to watch him begin what became a great career for him. Like everybody else has said, Mark was a kind hearted man and really enjoyed what he was doing. He loved Oak Ridge where he grew up and he told me he wanted to come back this season to help tape a game or two. I told him we couldn't pay him what it would even cost him to drive home. He said, "Voice, (that's what he calls me) I just want to come do a game with you again". I was so excited about that but like everybody else was shocked to hear the news of his passing just eight days later. Mark will be missed by all that knew him and I know I will never forget anything and everything we did from now on.