Mark William Northcott
Obituary
Surrounded by loved ones, Mark Northcott passed away on February 17, 2026, at age 70. Mark (he preferred the spelling "Marc") was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and raised in Palo Alto, California, where he was active in the local children's theatre community before attending San Diego State University and majoring in theatre. His professional acting career included performances in regional productions of plays such as Carousel and Fiddler on the Roof, as well as minor roles in television shows like Happy Days. An appearance as a goalie in the film Miracle on Ice allowed Marc to combine his talents in acting and ice hockey.
After his acting stints in San Diego and Los Angeles, Marc devoted the rest of his career to teaching. He taught at Harker School in San Jose and Chicago public schools, ran private drama classes for several years, volunteered as an assistant coach for Pony Baseball, and taught music and drama at Charter School of Morgan Hill from 2009 to 2015. As the Director of Christian Music Theatre for nearly three decades, first in Palo Alto and then in Morgan Hill, Marc taught thousands of school-age children in the program and employed several hundred high school and college students as counselors. He also shared his talents through directing drama ministries and performing monthly puppet shows for many years at Advent Lutheran Church. In these roles-as well as other ways he devoted himself to community mentorship-Marc inspired countless people to be creative, playful, confident, joyful, silly, faithful, and okay with learning from mistakes. In his free time, Marc loved rooting for Bay Area sports teams, watching movies, and walking his dogs around beautiful Morgan Hill. Marc was preceded in death by his parents Robert and Joan Northcott and his brother John Northcott. He is survived by his children, Emma and Luke Northcott; and their mother, Anita Warner; his son-in-law, Steven Rodriguez; and his grandson, Camilo Rodriguez.
All are invited to a memorial service in celebration of Marc's life to be held on Saturday, March 21, 2026 at 3:30 pm at Advent Lutheran Church, 16870 Murphy Ave., Morgan Hill. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Marc's memory may be made to your local public media outlet or animal humane society.
Published in Morgan Hill Times · March 6, 2026