This was the year Mark Dombroski ’21 was supposed to graduate from St. Joe’s. 

But Mark Dombroski will not be here to walk across the stage. In 2018, Mark Dombroski died in an accident from a fall in Bermuda during a trip with the St. Joe’s men’s rugby team. 

“It’s very difficult for me to think about Mark graduating because when I do that I feel such a loss of unrealized potential,” said his mother, Lisa Dombroski ’81. “But I think Mark has so much promise.”

That promise is now in the Mark Dombroski Foundation, which the Dombroski family started to honor Mark Dombroski’s legacy. The Foundation’s mission is to provide funding to organizations that support and promote youth education, athletics, safety and well-being. 

Each year on Mark Dombroski’s birthday, the foundation hosts a “Fit and Fun Day” as a fundraiser, Lisa Dombroski said. Instructors lead fitness classes in disciplines like Pilates, Tai Chi and Yoga.

“We try to celebrate the day as Mark would want us to by helping others be more healthy and enjoying each other,” Lisa Dombroski said.

Additionally, the foundation plans to sponsor a new playground at Middletown Free Library, where Mark Dombroski volunteered in his hometown of Media, Pennsylvania. It will be named “Mark’s Park” and is estimated to be completed no later than 2023, according to Lisa Dombroski.

On May 1, the foundation will host a “Mark Dombroski Fun Walk,” a mile-long walk on the Philadelphia side of St. Joe’s campus. Proceeds from the walk will go towards funding for Mark’s Park. 

The event is presented by The Beautiful Social (BSocial) Research Collaborative, a creative digital media collaborative within the Communication and Media Studies Department at St. Joe’s. Stephanie Rapp ’21 is in charge of the student group organizing the event.

“The walk will head down to Villiger Hall and the chapel where BSocial will have two stations set up: the first is a memory photo album where participants can write down their favorite thoughts they had with Mark or about him,” wrote Rapp in response to questions from The Hawk. “The final station will be at Mandeville Hall where the [Mark] Dombroski Foundation will display Mark’s jersey, photos and more information about Mark’s Park.”

Matt Lydon ’21, a member of the St. Joe’s rugby team, remembered Mark Dombroski not only as a rugby powerhouse but also as a “character” who was “always cracking jokes” and had a “goofy smile” on his face. 

For Lydon, Mark Dombroski motivated him to exert extra effort—and still does. Whether it was staying after rugby practice for an extra few minutes to hone his skills, or taking the time to ask someone why they were upset, Mark Dombroski always gave more, Lydon said.

“Mark was that person that was always doing the extra 5%, and that’s something I try to live by,” Lydon said. 

Every season, the top rookie performer on the St. Joe’s rugby team is presented with the Mark Dombroski Award. In the Delaware High School State Championship for rugby sevens, the tournament’s MVP earns the Mark Dombroski MVP Award. The MVP trophy awarded for the collegiate championship for rugby sevens takes the same name.

Andrew Ballenger was one of Mark Dombroski’s close friends at St. Joe’s. The two met in English class during their first semester. Ballenger now attends Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he is a senior on the baseball team. After Ballenger was cut from the St. Joe’s baseball team, Mark Dombroski encouraged Ballenger to not give up on playing college baseball. When Mark Dombroski died, Ballenger transferred from St. Joe’s to pursue his dream.

Ballenger said he thinks about Mark Dombroski every day. 

“I try to live how he would live, make the decisions he would make,” Ballenger said. “I’m not perfect, but I try to remind myself that he’s watching over me.”

Mark Dombroski had an “innate quality” to uplift and empower those around him, according to his mother.

“It was a part of who he truly was, to try to help other people get through their struggles, to feel better about themselves, to feel better about their situation and to enjoy life,” Lisa Dombroski said.