Rites to be Thursday for Bennington Man Who Fell by Christine Laue World Herald Staffwriter

Mark Mahon was always helping others, just like the night of his death, said his wife, Liz Mahon.

Once, during a snowstorm, the Bennington man helped stranded motorists and snowed-in homeowners with his truck and plow, she said.

“Instead of staying at home, he went out to get people unstuck,” she said. “That was just him.”

Bill Claborn of Elkhorn, a friend of 12 years, said Mahon helped him clear trees and move dirt with his machinery.

“It was not just one day; it was probably 20 days he helped us,” Claborn said. “That was the type of guy he was. He just helped us and did not expect anything.”

Mahon, 40, died Saturday after falling from a ladder while helping with a lighting problem at a Bennington bar street dance.

A funeral service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, 5419 N. 114th St. in Omaha.

The Mahons arrived at the Keno Cabana on Saturday night to listen to a band. But when Mark heard his friends, the bar owners, trying to figure out how to turn off a street light so it wouldn’t interfere with the band’s performance, he offered to help, Liz said. He fetched a ladder at his nearby office.

“I couldn’t watch because I knew it was dangerous, so I went inside,” she said.

Mark fell 20 feet to the ground, and he also touched a live power line. He was pronounced dead after being flown to Creighton University Medical Center.

World Herald 26 May 2009

Mahon, Mark P.

Apr. 7, 1969-May 23, 2009 Blair, NE. Preceded in death by grandparents, Bernard and Irene Mahon, Else Frasch. Survived by wife, Liz Mahon: children: Brandon, Justin, Jonathan, James and Catharyn; parents, Pat and Shirley Mahon; brothers, Bradley Mahon and wife Shannon, Jeremey Mahon; grandfather, Arthur Frasch; numerous aunts, uncles and friends.

Virgil Service Wednesday, 7 pm, West Center Chapel. Mass of Christian Burial Thursday, 10 am St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. Interment, Fort Calhoun Cemetery. Memorials to the Mahon Children’s Education Fund. The family will receive friends, Wednesday, 4 pm-7pm at the West Center Chapel. Visitation Thursday after 9 am at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church.

Heafey-Heafey-Hoffmann-Dworak-Cutler West Center Chapel, 78th & West Center 391-3900

Mahon grew up on a farm near Lynch, Neb. He attended DeVry University in Kansas City, Mo.

In 2000, he started Absolute Power and Communications, an electrical contracting business that now employs about 25.

Liz and Mark have a daughter, Catharyn, 3, and Mark has four sons from a previous marriage; Brandon, 17; twins Jonathan and Justin, 13; and James, 9, all of Bennington.

Other survivors include brothers Bradley Mahon and Jeremy Mahon and parents Pat and Shirley Mahon, all of Verdel, Neb.