Mark Finley beat the draft by volunteering and serving in the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division. Upon separating with an Honorable Discharge (to the surprise of many) he came to Albuquerque and became the photographer for the Civic Light Opera. He then became a Bernalillo County Deputy Sheriff.
He was the first EMT on B.C.S.O. in 1979 and got a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology in 1980 after being forced to graduate because he had more than 200 credits. He followed this up by taking computer science courses at UNM.
In 1982 he transferred to San Bernardino, CA, Sheriff’s Dept. In 1991 he became a C.E.R.T. Instructor, usually teaching the medical portion of the program.
Widowed after a 30-year marriage, he returned to Bernalillo County in 2018 and now lives in the South Valley where he used to patrol.