Rest In Peace, Mark Tschurr, Former SOS Board Chair

Learn more about his legacy and commitment to Barton Springs

Former Save Our Springs Board Chair and Austin conservation leader Mark Tschurr concluded a wonderful life last week.  Mark's obituary is posted here. It highlights how much he loved and worked to protect Barton Springs and the environment of his Austin home.  A memorial service has not yet been scheduled.  

In the 1992 campaign to win voter approval of the citizen-initiated Save Our Springs ordinance, Mark jumped in to lead the Austin Business Leaders for the Environment (ABLE) PAC.  He worked closely with other SOS champions from across the political spectrum to win a landslide vote to "save our springs" in August 1992. From then until his final days Mark challenged those around him to make community service and protecting the environment a part of their personal lives.  Mark was a true friend of Barton Springs, Austin, the Hill Country, and Mother Earth. 

Mark lived the idea that doing the right thing was more important than taking credit for the results. And that if things didn't work out, the door stayed open to try again.   Mark's advocacy and connections in the tech world helped steer several corporate expansions and relocations towards downtown and north Austin, away from our vulnerable Hill Country watersheds.  

As a small business owner in Austin's emerging tech world, Mark took real risks in telling the Chamber of Commerce they were wrong in arguing that protecting Barton Springs by passing the SOS ordinance was bad for our economy. He ruffled feathers in opposing corporate subsidies, insisting that businesses should pay their fair share of taxes, and speaking up in social settings on the side of protecting the environment when others remained silent. 

When Mark joined the SOS Board as Chair, he opened doors and sought compromise but rejected doing deals that pitted good government against watershed protection. He championed public funding to buy critical watershed protection lands -- and challenged landowners to donate or sell at a discount conservation easements that would protect our Hill Country watersheds forever. Mark's efforts helped protect thousands of acres in the Barton Springs and Colorado River watersheds. He also played a key role in securing permanent protection of land at Jacob's Well, part of which is now Hays County's Jacob's Well Preserve. 
​
Mark lived his life dedicated to his wife Betsy, daughter Helen, son Henry, and to the Austin community.  He was close friends with SOS Executive Director Bill Bunch, SOS founding board chair Helen Ballew, ABLE co-founders Deborah Morin and John Mackey, and many other SOS supporters.  Austin and SOS were blessed by Mark's wisdom and love for our fair city and for Barton Springs.  We thank you Mark and will continue to be inspired and guided by your leadership.  Our sympathies go out to Betsy, Helen, Henry and the Tschurr family. 

SOS Alliance

Photos:  Mark and Betsy Tschurr taking the Polar Bear plunge at Barton Springs on New Year's Day, 2023.