from his friends at USA Risk Group and Saslow, Lufkin & Buggy

Mark Sobel and wife, Joan Wilson, both 56, passed away in a small plane crash in North Carolina on Thursday.

Mark was the Managing Principal of Financial Risk Analysts, LLC, an actuarial and insurance consulting firm. Mark was a nationally recognized expert in medical malpractice insurance with 25+ years experience providing actuarial and analytical services to over 400 property/casualty insurance companies, risk pools, captive insurers, RRGs and self insurers of all sizes. He was the former National Director of Property/Casualty Actuarial Services for Deloitte & Touche.

Mark founded Financial Risk Analysts LLC in 1993. Robert Van Epps, a principal at the firm, said the company was Sobel`s ``real pride and joy.`` ``He was proud of it. It meant a lot to him.`` Van Epps said he met Sobel about two-and-a-half years ago at a business conference, and Sobel later asked him to join the company. Though the firm was small, Van Epps accepted. ``And I wouldn`t have hopped on board with just anyone,`` he said. ``Mark was just a really good guy. And he was a very good teacher. I learned a lot from him.``

Mark Sobel`s passion for flying ran deep, his fellow pilots said. It isn`t necessary or common for a private pilot to achieve certification as a flight instructor, but Sobel did. And he wasn't required to serve on the association managing the hangars where his plane was housed, but he did. Fellow pilots described Sobel, a consulting actuary with a home in South Windsor and a business in Vernon, as a highly qualified pilot with a lot of experience, not only flying, but also buying and selling planes. So when news spread Friday that Sobel`s small plane had crashed in North Carolina on Thursday, killing him and his wife, Joan Wilson, they were stunned. ``I'm shocked,`` said Thomas Love, a pilot who is president of the hangar association Sobel belonged to. ``It's not something you would`ve expected...``

[The full obituary for Mark and Joan, including details on a graveside service scheduled for Tuesday, May 13th, may be found at The Hartford Courant website. As noted there, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: Scleroderma Foundation, Attn: Donations, 300 Rosewood Drive, Suite 105, Danvers, MA 01923 or Light Source Center, Inc., c/o: Natalie Swiller, 96 Steele Road, West Hartford, CT 06119.

Peace to Mark's memory, and strength to family and friends left behind.]