Mark Jurentkuff

Mark Scott Jurentkuff was a restaurant owner and longtime hospitality worker on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, who spent more than four decades making guests and co-workers feel at home. He died of cancer in September 2026 at the age of 69, and his death was reported publicly in an obituary published by the Provincetown Independent on November 4, 2026.

Jurentkuff was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in February 1957 to Karl Elsar Jurentkuff Jr., who worked as chief of operations at the Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station, and Virginia Pearl Jurentkuff, a school bus driver. He grew up in a small town in the northwest part of the state before moving to Cape Cod, where he built his career and his adult life. He spent 21 years at the Chatham Wayside Inn, rising to assistant inn manager, and was remembered by his sister Nina Murphy as a beloved and familiar presence to both guests and coworkers during his time there.

Jurentkuff later went into business with his husband, George Fitzgerald, opening a restaurant the couple named in honor of Mary Brock, a well known host at the Lobster Pot restaurant, according to Jurentkuff's friend Madeline Miller. The restaurant became a part of local life on the Cape, and after running it for roughly seven years the couple sold it. Jurentkuff and Fitzgerald then purchased and ran 5 Star Convenience and Deli. Jurentkuff was also connected to a Chatham attraction that became a regular stop on the town's annual Christmas Stroll, reflecting the affection the community held for him during the holidays as much as the rest of the year.

People who knew Jurentkuff consistently described his warmth and humor. His co-worker and friend, the artist Drew Carnelli, said his sense of humor was effortless and that he made everyone smile. His goddaughter, Zora Vermilya Woodsum, called him endlessly funny and endlessly kind. Those tributes, offered after his death became public, point to a man whose impact on Cape Cod's hospitality community went well beyond the restaurants and inns where he worked.

Jurentkuff's death followed a difficult stretch for his family. His husband, George Fitzgerald, predeceased him, as did his parents, Karl and Pearl, his brother Steve Jurentkuff, who had donated a kidney to Mark years earlier, and his brother-in-law Colin Murphy. He is survived by his sister, Nina Murphy of East Falmouth, his sister-in-law Kathy Jurentkuff of Buckland, and a wide circle of nieces, nephews and their families across Massachusetts, California and Rhode Island. The family has suggested that donations be made in his memory, though the full details of where to direct them were not fully confirmed in early reporting.