Friday, May 14, 1999
Family, friends say
aloha to Tuinei
The former Dallas Cowboys
By Ben DiPietro
lineman, who died May 6, was
remembered at funeral
services last night
Associated PressMark Tuinei was remembered for how he lived, not how he died.
At the funeral service last night for the former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman, there was no talk about how, on his last night in Dallas before a planned move back to Hawaii, he ingested a fatal combination of drugs, including heroin.
Instead, the 6-foot-5, 320-pound lineman, who died May 6, was remembered as a big man with an even bigger heart, a guy who would patiently sign autographs until every fan who wanted one had one, a man who downplayed his own achievements to focus on making those around him feel important.
"I am not ashamed of my brother," said Tom Tuinei, who then read from Scripture. "Let he who is without sin among you cast the first stone."
Tuinei's casket was draped with a Dallas Cowboys blanket and a Cowboys flag was displayed in the church. Nieces and nephews wore jerseys with Tuinei's No. 71 and the words "Uncle Mark" on the back as they scampered across the grassy grounds of Central Union Church, where he married his wife, Pono, in 1984.
Signed as a free agent in 1983, Dallas intended to try Tuinei as a defensive lineman. Instead, he became an anchor on an offensive line that led the Cowboys to Super Bowl championships in 1993, 1994 and 1996. He retired in 1998 after being felled by a knee injury.
He was laid to rest wearing one of his Super Bowl rings. A football and other personal items also were placed in the casket.
Col. William Olds, a former ROTC instructor at the University of Hawaii who Tuinei credited with helping to set him straight, said it was Tuinei alone who decided to abandon a life of trouble to make something of himself.
"Back then, he felt like the whole world was against him, that trouble followed him all around," Olds said of when Tuinei came to him for help in the early 1980s. "He came to me and said he needed to get his life on track."
Olds likened Tuinei to the lead character in the television show "Touched by an Angel."
"Mark Tuinei was my angel," Olds said, choking back tears. "I sincerely believe he was here to touch the lives of many people. And he did."
Among those at the service were Arizona coach Dick Tomey, who coached Tuinei at UH; former Hawaii teammate and former San Francisco 49er Jesse Sapolu; former NFL pro and Hawaii teammate Rich Miano, and current Hawaii coach June Jones.
