Mark Randall Venable, 57 of Navasota, passed away on Sunday, August 16, 2026.
He was born on October 6, 1968, to the late Walter Venable and Shirley Hearne in Houston.
Mark received the Lord as his personal savior and was baptized at the First Baptist Church in Caldwell on March 6, 1977. He moved his church membership to Providence Baptist Church in 1992.
Mark was a 1987 graduate of Caldwell High School. Even though the traditional classroom was not his happy place, he excelled in anything that involved hands-on learning.
Mark loved creating, building, or just taking things apart to see how the item worked before putting it back together again. He did that with a new bicycle at age 6.
He was a member of the Caldwell High School band where he played percussion. After high school, he briefly attended the old TSTI in Waco for auto mechanic training.
Even though Mark learned to cut and bale hay, ride a horse, round up cattle and fix anything, his passion was to create and perform music. He loved being an entertainer!
In 1986, Mark found a guitar in a hall closet that belonged to his mother, Shirley, purchased for $25 by his stepfather, Jack Hearne. Since his mom wasn’t using it as expected, Mark began plucking and strumming any chance he had, learning to play songs by ear.
In search of a band to play in, Mark hooked up with a great man named Quincy Berka. He wanted Mark to play the drums in his band.
Eventually, Mark had a chance to play in several local bands like Semi-Live, Who’s Driving, and Bandanna.
After playing in Texas nightclubs and perfecting his talent, Mark wanted to move to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1992.
He sold everything he had to buy a Chevy cube van that he outfitted with a bed, AC, chair, TV and carpet. He didn’t get far though. He broke down a short distance from the house and could only use reverse to return. Being the mechanic that he was, he was on his way again the following day.
Shortly after arriving in Nashville, Mark was able to find a place to stay with a singer/song writer named Wynn Varble.
He eventually got a job as a tour guide and driver in order to sleep on a couch and help with the bills. Not only did Mark share the history of Nashville with his tourists, he drove them to famous locations while singing popular songs, some in which he wrote himself.
With the money he made and tips, Mark was able to record his first demo with some songs written by his roommate, Wynn Varble.
During his stay in Nashville, Mark recorded three albums: “Thanks to Mama” (a tribute to his mom, Shirley), “Like Father, Like Son” (a tribute to his dad, Walter), and a self-titled album called “Mark Randall.” Some of those songs were co-written with his father, Walter.
While doing that, he continued to work in transportation and merchandising for several well known country music celebrities like: Diamond Rio, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Kenny Cheney, Aaron Tippin, Hank Williams, Jr., Charlie Daniels and Darryl Worley.
Unfortunately, Mark didn’t make the big time in Nashville’s competitive arena, so he made his way back to Texas.
Still wanting to perform and create music, he started his own business called “Music Taxi.” This continued to give him an opportunity to play at festivals, sing at weddings and private events, offer karaoke and run his limousine service.
In addition to operating Music Taxi, he participated in several barbecue cookoffs with The Cooking Cowboys, catered several events and worked as a maintenance technician at Camp Allen near Navasota.
Anyone that knows Mark well, will agree he came up with creative and fun ways to earn a living, but he never passed up an opportunity to help others.
In 2007, he established the Rolling Hills Volunteer Fire Department and was their first Fire Chief. Mark was very proud to help secure equipment and training for the volunteer members.
To this day, the department continues to grow and serve its community proudly.
Around 2009, Mark and his good buddy, Rupert, opened up a restaurant called Wild West Restaurant featuring barbecue and local entertainment.
Mark was a member of a band called Early Wine and ended his band career with The Mark Randall Band. In 2020, Mark was disappointed that COVID shut down all opportunities to perform and entertain in public for over a year.
Music was what Mark loved most, and even though he didn’t make it big in Nashville, any show he performed, he did with amazing energy and passion. He was a perfectionist when it came to his shows, especially about the quality of the sound coming out of the speakers.
Mark was preceded in death by his father, Walter Venable; and his stepfather, Jack Hearne; along with his brother-inlaw, Gene Hermes. He is also preceded in death by his special dog and faithful companion, Tootie.
He is survived by mother Shirley Hearne; his sister, Laree (Russell) DeFranco; and stepsisters, Sherri Hermes, and Shannon (Chuck) Clark. He is also survived by several close and loving family members, along with many precious friends.
Mark will be missed terribly by all that knew and loved him.
Express condolences at Phillipsandluckey.com.
PHILLIPS & LUCKEY FUNERAL HOME 404 W. Buck St. Caldwell, Tx 77836 979-567-3232