Dr Mark Bartsch: Dedicated doctor who served his community for decades suddenly ends his own life – leaving heartbroken wife in ‘utter shock’

A ‘compassionate’ doctor who served his community for decades has suddenly died, sparking an outpouring of grief from friends and patients.

Dr Mark Bartsch passed away on April 2, just months before celebrating his 25th year working at the Healthlink Family Medical Centre in Cranbrook, southwest Townsville.

He was known for being an ’empathetic and hard-working’ general practitioner who supported generations of locals and will be ‘hard to replace’.

His heartbroken wife of 28 years, Taryn Claire, shared the devastating news to social media on Tuesday.

‘Today I have woken with the heaviest of hearts. My world has turned upside down as my beloved has chosen his own timeline to depart,’ Ms Claire said. 

‘This has left me bereft, shocked, in grief, confused, bewildered, sad, traumatised…

‘There were no leading signs, or indicators, there were no real clues, and this has come as a complete and utter shock.’

Ms Claire started a Facebook group titled ‘Remembering Mark’ for those who knew her husband to share their grief over the popular doctor’s death.

In an emotional social media post, she added: ‘Nothing can prepare anyone for this level of shock.

‘I have lost my friend, my companion, my lover. I have lost my anchor. I have lost my person.

‘After 28 years together and believing we’d have more than double that left together I am still processing.

‘There is grief for all the future things we won’t do together. There is heartache, sadness, hurt, brokenness.

‘I feel abandoned and lost.’

There has been an outpouring of grief from locals who said Dr Bartsch ‘fronted up, rain, hail or shine and dedicated his life to helping others’.

One man who had been Dr Bartsch’s patient for 15 years said he ‘helped me through a lot and always had time for me when I needed him’. 

‘It feels like I have lost a good friend. A good man gone too soon.’

Another patient of ‘more than a decade’ said she was ‘utterly devastated at the news of his passing’.

‘I don’t know what I am going to do without him,’ she wrote, adding Dr Bartsch ‘was a huge support to me and I feel like I have lost a family member’.

One woman event thanked the doctor for ‘saving my life’ when he found she had breast cancer.

‘(He) made a big impact on not only my life, but my family’s lives,’ she wrote.

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