Mark Bradley Tuvim

A note from Lynn Wilmott:

My beautiful, caring, loving husband and partner of 44 years passed away in his sleep on March 18th. Mark ensured I was cherished, valued, and that my interests were supported. I truly felt adored in his company. 

We met the first night of Passover, working in the Westwood Marquis Hotel. Mark said "usually, the first night of Passover, we sacrifice a Christian virgin," and I shouted from across the room, "well, I'm a Christian!", and that, as they say was that. Every time I found myself in the walk-in refrigerator, Mark would make an excuse to be there too.

From the moment we started dating, Mark took the time to call me on the phone every single day for the rest of his life. 

It was only a year and half after our wedding that I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and it was made clear that I could no longer pursue my passion for food and cooking. He supported my Master's in Social Welfare at UCLA, editing my papers, always encouraging me to pursue my interests.

Mark and I shared a passion for theater (and particularly Sondheim), and would frequently travel to New York to enjoy Broadway shows and early film screenings. He also had an enduring enthusiasm for Golf, and was a Tarheel through and through, always a rabid supporter of the North Carolina University basketball team. 

As Mark said, "we always planned our trips around vineyards and birds." We traveled together to New Zealand, Botswana, South Africa, Italy, England, Mexico, Costa Rica, Trinidad, Grenada. We had many more trips planned post-retirement.

Mark's absence is vast, not only to me, but also to the members of our family that he inspired with his kindness and generosity.

OBITUARY:

Mark Tuvim, a partner with the law firm Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani in Seattle, died Tuesday, March 18, at his home in Bremerton, Washington. He was 69. 

Mr. Tuvim spent nearly 16 years with Gordon Rees, including as managing partner in Seattle in 2019-24, specializing in civil litigation, employment, and toxic torts, including asbestos litigation. 

Before joining Gordon Rees, he was a partner at Corr Cronin in Seattle and at Preston Gates & Ellis in both Los Angeles and Seattle. 

Mr. Tuvim graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and, after several years as an actor, the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law in 1992. He was a member of the bar in Washington, California, and Oregon. 

Mr. Tuvim grew up in the hospitality industry, in which his father was a manager at country clubs and hotels. And it was while working in the restaurant at the Westwood Marquis Hotel and Gardens in Los Angeles that he met Lynn Willmott, a chef there. They married in 1984 and his devotion to her was vast, even more so following Lynn's diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis shortly after. They spent a loving life together. 

It was that upbringing that helped inform his deep sense of wanting to do the best he could for his family members, friends, and clients. Behind a sometimes taciturn exterior, his generosity and caring was boundless, whether ensuring that his nieces could pursue educational opportunities or toward counsel representing a different client on the same side in a litigation. 

He and his brother, Reid, lived on opposite coasts for 45 years, but even apart they had a nurturing relationship, not just celebrating each other’s personal and professional achievements but talking of life’s joys and its challenges. 

Mr. Tuvim was a passionate conversationalist, whether discussing the news of the day, theater and film, football and golf, wine, travel, and, of course, his family. 

"I couldn't even begin to count the number of lunches and dinners we shared on the road in the most remote corners of the Pacific Northwest," said Chris Marks, a partner with the firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough in Los Angeles. “I would be hard-pressed to think of someone with whom I have spent more hours at the Red Lion Inn in Longview than Mark. He always asked about my children, and I very much enjoyed listening to him tell me of ... the many trips to New York and the shows [he and his wife] saw together.”

"He was really smart and just a really good lawyer," said longtime friend and colleague Carol Arnold, a partner at Preston Gates in Seattle who tried cases together with Mr. Tuvim in both Los Angeles and Seattle, especially those involving Amtrak. "The clients in L.A. just loved him. He kept steel-toed boots and hard hats in the trunk of his car and would just head to accident sites." Mr. Tuvim continued to carry steel-toed boots and hard hat. As recently as a few weeks before his death, Mr. Tuvim used them on a visit to a factory location. 

Arnold said that when she and Mr. Tuvim were both at Preston Gates, they worked together on cases that weren't even his, wanting to ensure that court documents reached the highest level of excellence. "His briefs were brilliant," she said. Marks echoed that sentiment. "He was always willing to go the extra mile, and he was also very good at finding the silver lining wherever he ended up." 

Mr. Tuvim is survived by his wife and brother; his brother's child, Gabrielle Tuvim, and her mother (Rebecca Barger); his wife’s sisters, Leslie Willmott (Paolo Ballini) and Lisa Tyler (Scott Tyler); and two other nieces, Gemma Ballini and Sarah Tyler.