JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Mark Middlebrook, a driving force behind Jacksonville\u2019s urban park system and a former executive director of the Timucuan Parks Foundation, died Sunday in Spring City, Tennessee, the foundation said. He was 74.<\/p>\n
\u201cMark was far more than a former Executive Director \u2014 he was foundational to who we are today,\u201c the foundation said. \u201dIn 1999, he began working with the City of Jacksonville\u2019s Preservation Project to acquire and protect natural and environmentally sensitive lands. His leadership and vision helped build one of the most impressive urban park systems in the nation and laid the groundwork for what would become the Timucuan Parks Foundation.”<\/p>\n
TPF said it is \u201cprofoundly grateful\u201d for all of the work Middlebrook did for Jacksonville, citing his leadership as the primary reason that thousands of acres of environmentally sensitive land will remain protected for future generations.<\/p>\n
The statement went on to say that Middlebrook retired as executive director in late 2023 but continued as an adviser to the foundation, adding that his dedication to preserving Northeast Florida\u2019s natural landscapes was \u201cunwavering\u201d and \u201cdeeply inspirational.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe believed passionately in protecting the places that make Jacksonville special, and that passion shaped our mission and continues to guide our work.\u201d <\/p>\n
Additionally, the President and CEO of the North Florida Land Trust, Allison DeFoor, released a statement on Middlebrook\u2019s passing. <\/p>\n
\u201cMark was a giant, and his legacy will be seen for generations yet unborn,\u201d she said. \u201cRest in Peace, friend, Rest. Your work is done, but your gift will live on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Middlebrook leaves behind his wife, Gayle; his children and grandchildren; his extended family; and the many friends and colleagues who will miss him deeply, TPF said. <\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Mark Middlebrook, a driving force behind Jacksonville\u2019s urban park system and a former executive director…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117,10220],"class_list":["post-176907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-timucuan-parks-foundation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}