Biography

College: Mark earned his undergraduate degree at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where he was a student during the late 1960’s. Along with his studies, Mark was a cadet in the Air Force ROTC at Colby. When he graduated in 1970 he reported for duty at the USAF Flight School at Laredo AFB, Texas.

Military: After earning his wings at the USAF Flight School at Laredo AFB, Texas, Mark was invited to remain in the Air Training Command as an Instructor Pilot in the Undergraduate Pilot Training program.

Family: It was at Laredo Air Force Base that he first met Lt. Ruth Carter, RN, and in 1975 Mark & Ruth were married. Upon completion of active duty service for the United States Air Force, they returned to New England to start a life in Rhode Island. Mark went to work in his family’s ship repair subcontracting company and Ruth continued in the medical field. It wasn’t long before their house became a home with the birth of their first of three children. Son Adam was born in 1977. Daughter Kate arrived in 1980. The family was filled out when daughter April came along in 1986.

Son, Adam Jay Zaccaria, was born with Autism. As a result of raising him and caring for him at home for the first 28 years of his life Mark and Ruth have become far more expert in dealing with this increasingly common syndrome than they ever planned to be. In life, though, you play the hand you’re dealt. Adam has made progress every year. At the point where he could no longer be managed at home, it was a blessing that state supported options were available. Today Adam lives happily in a group home with four other residents of similar condition. He and his roommates are cared for by a corps of state workers who are both dedicated and skillful. In a word, Adam is flourishing. He is a client of the Adrien LaPlante center, in Wakefield, where he is employed in a protected workshop.

First daughter Katherine Ann Zaccaria, is a full time member of the RI Army Guard, and in 2005 interrupted her studies at Roger Williams School of Law to be deployed to Iraq with the 126th Aviation Battalion. No national government should ever choose to make war. Capt. Kate Zaccaria and the many soldiers like her are the reasons why no national government should ever choose to make war with the United States.

Second daughter April Elizabeth Zaccaria, is a graduate of NK High School. She received a BA in marketing and writing for the screen from Emerson College, Boston, in 2009. She is a 2^nd degree black belt in Tae Kwan Do, having studied for years with Grand Master Jin Hong at his do-jang in North Kingstown. She is currently working as office manager at a local business while continuing to expand her writing portfolio.

Career: By the early 1980’s Mark was a corporate executive in the Tag and Label industry, specializing in barcode technology for automatic identification and data collection. In a series of Product Management and Marketing Management positions he was responsible for enterprises throughout the developed world. Traveling widely, Mark was able to learn quite a bit about other nations and their cultures from the first hand experience of having been there to do business.

Today Mark operates a consulting practice in Business To Business Marketing, based in North Kingstown. Ruth is the Nurse Manager for a pediatric psychiatric practice, in Middletown.

Politics: Both Mark and Ruth are longtime members of the North Kingstown Republican Town Committee, the NKGOP. Mark is a past Chair of that organization. Beginning with Ruth’s run for the state legislature in 2000, the couple have worked on one of their campaigns every election year since. In the process Mark spent 4 years on the North Kingstown Zoning Board of Review. He was both appointed and elected to the Town Council there. Ruth currently serves on the North Kingstown Zoning Board. Of course both are ready for the 20 city & town campaign for Congress currently under way.