Mark Uffer Obituary, Death – Mark Uffer, the head administrator for San Bernardino County during a high-profile corruption scandal in the late 2000s, died in his Highland home. He was 70. Uffer battled glioblastoma multiforme, a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumor, for 11 months, according to an online obituary. He died on September 10th. From March 2004 to November 2009, Uffer was the county administrative officer. From 1998 to March 2004, he was the chief executive officer of Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.
Uffer left the county in disgrace, having been fired by the Board of Supervisors on a 3-2 vote. In a $15 million wrongful termination complaint filed in May 2010, he claimed that his removal was in reprisal for assisting in a county corruption investigation involving state and local prosecutors. Supervisors stated at the time that Uffer’s firing was issued for no specific reason other than a change in leadership.
Uffer testified as part of a joint investigation by the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office and the state Attorney General’s Office into an alleged bribery scheme involving a Rancho Cucamonga developer and three former county officials, which resulted in the defendants’ acquittal or dismissal of all charges in 2017. In 2012, the county reached a $650,000 settlement with Uffer, claiming that it had already spent $1 million defending itself in the action and that a trial would cost the county upwards of $400,000.
During the Board of Supervisors meeting on September 12, Chair Dawn Rowe acknowledged Uffer’s death and adjourned the meeting in his memory. “We want to keep his family in our thoughts at this time,” she explained. Uffer, who was born on May 2, 1953, in San Bernardino to the late Herbert and Rena Uffer, dedicated his life to the health care profession, according to his obituary.
He began his career as a respiratory therapist and rose through the ranks to become CEO of several hospitals, including Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Colorado River Medical Center, and Corona Regional Medical Center. Uffer enjoyed golf and the drums, as well as traveling the world and working on domestic chores. He was also a sheriff’s ranger in San Bernardino County and an avid poker player. His wife, Carol, three children, Amanda, Daniel, and Sara, five grandchildren, a brother, Robin, a sister-in-law, Karen, and his niece, Kimberly, survive him.
