Mark Scharmer – LHS Hall of Fame Inductee

The Litchfield High School Hall of Fame induction ceremony is coming up this Friday in the Litchfield High School Commons with a reception at 6 p.m. and a program at 7 p.m. There are 4 people in this year’s group, including Mark Scharmer from the Class of 1973.

Scharmer says he was born and raised in Litchfield where his father was a math teacher. He says he was involved in football, basketball and track at Litchfield High School, then attended college at Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter, and then spent 41 years with Federated Insurance before retiring in 2018.

Scharmer says his insurance career took him to Owatonna, Kansas City, Nashville and back to Minnesota – in Lakeville – where he serves on the Board of Directors for Lakeview Bank. He and his wife, Meg, have two children – John and Lauren, one grandchild, and another arriving in a couple of weeks, and they spent many years as mentors in the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program.

Scharmer says back when he was in college, he started something called Tanks in which friends from high school and college would get together in Litchfield during Watercade weekend and play softball. He says the friends no longer play softball, but have still met for the past 50 years.

Scharmer says anyone connected to Litchfield should take a lot of pride in the town and the people who have connections there. He says he learned life lessons growing up in Litchfield that have benefitted him later in life and he is going to share that bit of wisdom with the students he meets at Litchfield High School this Friday.