Mark Carothers Obituary

Mark Thomas Carothers, 47, passed away peacefully on July 6, 2025 with family by his side. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky on April 14, 1978. He graduated from Western Kentucky University with a degree in Marketing in 2001. Upon graduation, he promptly began a position with Enterprise Rent-A-Car and moved through their ranks to become the vehicle repair coordinator. This was fitting given that he was a car guy. After many years at Enterprise, he worked in decision-making roles for his wife's family's pool business as well as divisions of the Home Depot, where he was working at the time of his passing.
Mark is survived by the love of his life and wife of 20 years, Allison Butler Carothers, two children, Camden and Campbell, his brother F. Robert Carothers III and wife Becky, sister Kate Meehan and husband Gerry, mother and father-in-law Fred and Linda Butler, sister-in-law Kelly Berry and husband Nick, and stepbrothers Andy Berger and Aaron (Racheal) Berger. He was the beloved and fun uncle of Bennett, Ryan, Stella and Vivienne.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Francis Robert Jr. and Kathleen Mulhall Carothers and his stepmother Julia Berger Carothers.
Mark never met a stranger and he had a positivity about life like none other. You never heard him complain. That just wasn't his way of going about things. He put everyone and everything before himself. Mark prioritized his family and didn't miss his kids games or dance recitals. Mark, Allison and the kids enjoyed many spring break vacations to southern beaches and weeklong family summer getaways. He always enjoyed those trips but perhaps Mark's favorite way to unwind was a camping trip. The campground truly was his happy place. He was raised on camping. Mark was at peace and living his best life while sitting around a campfire with his family or his good friends. His personal interests included camping, hunting, canoeing and hiking. He loved his annual deer hunting trip with college friends.
Mark remained close with many of the people he met in high school and college and would get together regularly with them at a local bar or restaurant to catch up and laugh
In addition to placing great value on family, he also placed great value on his faith. Mark was, and his family will continue to be, active participants at Southeast Christian church. Mark was a regular attendee at Southeast Christian's Man Challenge where you could find him on Thursday mornings at 6 AM gaining wisdom on faith and life in general from others who had experiences to share. His Friday mornings were spent in the Upper Room bible study with his beloved brothers.
The family would like to express gratitude for the kind and loving staff at the Norton Cancer Institute Audubon during his near two year long cancer journey. During this time, Mark remained steadfast in the fight. He was always up for trying a new approach or listening to ideas for his treatment. He was an active participant, bringing questions and ideas to nearly every chemo session. Just like in life, he approached his cancer battle with positivity and a "let's go God" attitude. Throughout treatment he had hundreds and hundreds praying for him. One particular close friend of his went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic very recently and sent Mark a text from there saying, "I've just rounded up another 150 people who are praying for you."
The family is appreciative beyond words of all the great care he received at the hands of so many at the Norton Cancer Institute Audubon, especially Dr. Michael Driscoll, Nicole Crawford, David Figge, the entire chemo team, the team in the interventional radiology department and all of the nurses on the 4th floor that loved and cared for Mark so well. They truly are amazing and took such great and loving care of him.
The Carothers family would like to thank their incredible village for the support and love they have had during this journey.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to The Colon Cancer Prevention Project.
Service is at Southeast Christian Church at Chapel in the Woods, Visitation 12-3pm, Service 3-4pm on Thursday, July 10, 2025. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Mark, please visit our floral store.