Funeral services are scheduled Saturday for Mark Trimble, founder of the Branson Auctions and a long-time collector of collector cars, vintage aircraft and historic outboard boat engines. Trimble died February 11 in Hollister, Missouri. He was 85.
Born in Kansas City, Trimble graduated from Branson High School after his parents purchased the Lizzie McDaniel estate and Old Matt’s Cabin, a tourist attraction and inspiration for The Shepherd of the Hills, a novel by Harold Bell Wright. After his father’s death in 1957, Trimble and his mother opened the popular Branson attraction, the Old Mill Theater, on the family farm, featuring The Shepherd of the Hills play.
Trimble also helped develop several other Branson-area attractions, including the Fantastic Caverns in Springfield, and the Ozark Auto Show Museum and Branson Collector Car Auction.
After high school, Trimble attended the University of Arkansas, graduating in civil engineering and then enrolling at Penn State University and the Air Force Institute of Technology, where he studied meteorology. He also served in the Air Force Reserve, attaining the rank of captain and was stationed on bases in Kansas and in England.
Trimble is survived by his wife of 56 years Lea, his son Kelly and wife Patricia, and three grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Don, and his daughter Shelly.
