Mark A. Friedrich

With heavy hearts, the Friedrich family is sad to announce the peaceful passing of Mark A. Friedrich on September 21, 2025. Mark was born on January 31, 1955 in Fort Wayne, Indiana to Richard and Clara Friedrich. He had three brothers Tom, Rick, Ken and one sister, Susan. After graduating in Horticulture from Purdue University, he moved to South Florida. His love of tropical plants was born after interning at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. After being a grower at Kraft Gardens in Deerfield for 10 years, he started and has operated Excelsa Gardens in Loxahatchee Groves since 1990. His first big break was meeting the Horticulturist at Rockefeller Center in New York City. They needed tropical plants for their Summer Plant Show, and Mark was happy to grow and ship up a beautiful mix of tropical plants. Starting with Excelsa Gardens' namesake the Rhapis excelsa, he greatly expanded the plant selection offered at Excelsa Gardens. With a goal of top quality and service, he made Excelsa Gardens a special garden and nursery to visit and shop for unusual plants. He enjoyed growing rare and new plants to wow customers. He especially enjoyed Heliconias and Gingers. He loved traveling to Asia, Australia and South America looking for new plants with the Heliconia Society International. As much as he enjoyed the nursery, he most loved his family. Mark is survived by his wife of 50 years Susan, his son Colin, his wife Audrey and granddaughter Rose, daughter Bridget, her husband Justin and his granddaughters Eloise, Merriweather, Saylor, Celerie, and Helen and his daughter Allison. Also, his 2 African grey parrots Betty and Barney who he was very fond of. Mark would say "his favorite day of the week was Monday because he gets to go work at Excelsa Gardens." 35 years flies by when you do what you love. Mark was tirelessly hard working, and always happy to help anyone in need. A celebration of life service will be held Saturday October 11th at 10:30AM at Christ Fellowship Church Westlake at 16561 Waters Edge Dr, Loxahatchee, FL 33470. All friends and family are invited to join. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations be made to the iCare Program, a non-profit whose mission is providing inclusive social opportunities for adults with intellectual disabilities. This program was important to Mark as it greatly benefits his daughter Allison and many other adults with Autism. https://icareprogram.org/Donate