Pastor rescues wife and kids, then dies trying to save sons trapped in fire, family says
.png "Mark Robinette, a pastor in Orient, Ohio, died along with his two sons while trying to save them from a house fire, his family said.")
An Ohio pastor died trying to rescue two of his sons trapped in an upstairs bedroom when the family’s home caught fire, media outlets reported.
Mark Robinette, 55, of Orient, was able to rescue his wife and two other children from the Jan. 23 fire before going back inside to save his sons, according to WBNS and The Columbus Dispatch.
The Pickaway County Coroner’s Office confirmed that Robinette’s 17-year-old son, Gideon, and 10-year-old son, Liam, also died, the station said.
“Mark was the most giving person that you could ever imagine,” family member Hugh Rose told WCMH. “He had a heart for people who were homeless and on drugs and that’s what their ministry and their church was all about.”
In 2000, Robinette started Foundation Church in Mount Sterling and had served as a pastor there since, according to the church’s website. Robinette was also involved in mission work in Myanmar.
“Mark was just so much to so many people,” Robinette’s cousin Mike Comer said, according to WBNS.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Ohio Fire Marshal’s Office, according to WSYX.
The Robinettes lost everything in the fire, according to a GoFundMe started by a friend of the family, Shonna Nitzel.
“They are left with the night clothes they were wearing and their vehicle and that is all,” Nitzel said.
Orient is about 16 miles southwest of Columbus, Ohio.
This story was originally published January 25, 2024 at 9:33 AM with the headline "Pastor rescues wife and kids, then dies trying to save sons trapped in fire, family says."
