Mark Schwing

Profile of Mark Schwing Click on any picture to see it actual size

Early Years Mark was born March 4, 1940, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania to a family active in the community. Johnstown is noted for its tragic floods in 1889, 1936 and 1977. It is famed for the steepest passenger inclined plane in the world. His father was a member of the school board and later city controller. His mother was the president of the local women’s club. Mark graduated from Johnstown High School in 1958 and entered the University of Pittsburgh. In the spring of 1959, Mark was appointed to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD by the late Congressman John P. Saylor. Mark’s Navy career began on July 5, 1959 when he took the oath of office as a Midshipman, United States Navy.

Military Career Mark graduated from the Naval Academy in 1963 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy. After post-graduate studies in the Navy Nuclear Power Training Program, he served aboard Polaris and Poseidon submarines. This set a trend for the rest of Mark's 25-year Naval service which involved Polaris and Poseidon submarine patrols, classified ocean survey work, and development and evaluation of navigational systems for submarines and submarine-launched missiles. As a Lieutenant, Mark was the youngest Polaris submarine navigator at the time. He rose to the rank of Commander and the responsibility of managing billions of dollars of submarine navigation system hardware. Awards include the Navy Unit Commendation and the Navy Achievement Medal. Transferred to California in 1977 as Officer-in-Charge of a Navy Detachment at Autonetics, now Rockwell, in Anaheim, Mark decided to settle permanently in Orange County upon his military retirement in 1984.

Corporate Career From 1984 to 1994 Mark used his technical and management skills as a systems engineer, program manager and consultant to a variety of high-tech projects related to personal computers, satellite navigation systems, ocean survey systems and satellite communications first at Eagle Computer, than at Magnavox in Torrance and later at Interstate Electronics in Anaheim.

My company exhibiting at the International Model And Hobby Expo

Entrepreneurial Career Mark's long-time hobby interest in radio-controlled (RC) model airplanes evolved into an international business, Electronic Model Systems. Founded in 1969 as a part time mail-order business with products for the RC hobbyist, the business expanded to serve professional unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) and special effects studios, including the Jim Hensen (Muppet) studio, various universities and branches of the United States military. Today, Electronic Model Systems products are sold around the world to dealers, distributors, hobbyists and professionals. Mark was recognized by his industry peers in 2001 when he was elected to the board of the Radio Control Hobby Trade Association. Mark was elected president of the association at his very first board meeting and headed the association for six years. In 2006, Mark was instrumental in the founding of the Hobby Manufacturers Association combining radio control, model trains, plastics and die cast as well as general hobbies under one professional trade organization doing a combined multi-Billion business in the hobby industry. He was elected the founding vice president of the HMA and still serves on its board of directors. He was just elected to an unprecedented third term of the R/C group and again elected as president at the recent August board meeting.

Community Service Mark has been an active member and leader of Yorba Linda and Orange County community organizations for the past 22 years:
Member of the Yorba Linda Chamber of Commerce
Former President of the Rancho Dominguez Townhomes Association
Former Member of the United Way Finance Committee
Past Chair of the North Orange County Council United Way
Past President, North Orange County Division of the American Heart Association
Past President of Aware Concerned Citizens Organized for Responsible Development (ACCORD).

Political Service Since moving to Yorba Linda in 1986, Mark has taken an active role in his community and has served in a number of elected and appointed positions:

Councilman, Yorba Linda City Council (1988 to 2000)
Mayor, Yorba Linda (1991 and 1997)
Director, Orange County Sanitation Districts
Director, Santa Ana River Flood Protection Agency
Director, Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency
Six term member of the O.C. Republican Central Committee

Mark called for and chaired the first ever joint City Council/School Board meeting. Mark believes a good education is the key to a successful life. He has always supported a high school within Yorba Linda. He strongly advocated opening the police substation within Yorba Linda. Mark worked to bring our community four new parks, the Tommy Lasorda, Jr. Fieldhouse, our wonderful Community Center, and the Black Gold Golf Course.

Family Mark’s wife Eileen, is a certified Senior Right of Way Agent. Eileen worked for several major oil companies on various right-of-way issues and now works for the City of Los Angeles Department of Airports at Ontario as Senior Real Estate Officer.

Mark's daughter, Suzanne completed a Master's Degree in Voice at Manhattan School of Music. She is pursuing a career in opera in New York City.

Eileen's son Chris is the Chief Engineer for Lyall Turbosonics of Rancho Santa Margarita. His wife Laranne has an MBA and works for Farmer’s Insurance. They have two children Tyler and Caitlyn.

Eileen's daughter Katie is a graduate of Cal State Fullerton with a BA in Mathematics. Katie is married to Patrick Roche, a telecommunications engineer for the State of New York. The young couple resides near Albany, NY. They have two sons, Andrew and William.

Hobbies In addition to his interest in electronics and radio-controlled model airplanes that evolved into a thriving business, Mark enjoys home improvement projects including finish carpentry, electrical wiring and plumbing. Mark loves antique cars, and is restoring 1931 Model A Ford Deluxe Roadster. He has a 1931 Model A Ford Slant Window Town Sedan awaiting restoration. For the past three years Mark has been the chairman of the annual Orange County Model A Club Pancake Breakfast held in Hart Park in Orange each March attracting over 1200 hobbyists and nearky 400 cars. He is currently serving as president of that Model A club.

This past July, Mark was appointed to the position of national vice president of the Model A Ford Youth Restoration Award, a 501 c(3) charitable organization. This organization is dedicated to get youngsters ages 12 to 21 involved in the antique car hobby by providing restoration funds, parts and just in the past year awarded two restorable Model A Fords to deserving youths.