Born in Beloit on April 25, 1898, Mark Finnegan, for the 98 years of his productive life, was the man turned to whenever a question involving Beloit’s history, or its residents had to be answered. He was a one-man walking history book about Beloit, always willing to share his knowledge, where necessary separating the fact from fiction, and to identify and name individuals and various locations found in photographs from the archives of the Beloit Historical Society.

The son of Phillip and Terresa Grady Finnegan, his Irish ancestry was a point of pride to him. He graduated from Beloit High School, editor of the school paper, the Increscent. He attended Beloit College and served in the U.S. Army in World War I. Although he was employed by Warner Electric and the Wisconsin State Employment Service, he will always be remembered as Beloit’s Postmaster, from 1943 to his retirement at age 70 in 1968, taking charge of the Post Office located at East Grand and Pleasant, the present site of the Beloit Public Library.

In 1969 he served as co-chairman of the dedication ceremonies for the “new” and present post office. Mr. Finnegan was a charter member of St. Jude’s Catholic Church and watched it being built in 1909 on what was then the edge of town across the street from corn fields and ultimately served as trustee of his church for many years. He was a member of Catholic Social Services, the National Association of Postmasters, American Legion Post No. 48, an honorary life member and past Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus, honorary life member of the Beloit Elks club and the Beloit Historical Society. He served as President and Lieutenant Governor of the Beloit Noon Kiwanis Club and president of the Community Welfare Association. Mr. Finnegan headed the committee formed to raise funds to build Beloit Catholic High School.

He gave his knowledge, experience and support as a leader in the efforts to convert the old post office building into a library for the community. As a member of the City of Beloit Hospital Board, Mr. Finnegan was one of the leaders in the effort to build a new hospital for Beloit. After several years of study and plans, he was one of the incorporators of Beloit Memorial Hospital, Inc., a non-profit corporation, created to build and manage Beloit Memorial Hospital and elected Trustee of Beloit Memorial Hospital when it opened its doors in 1969. Mr. Finnegan married Josephine Zabilio on October 9, 1926 and she predeceased him in 1989, after 63 years of marriage. They had one son, John M. Finnegan. Mark J. Finnegan was a man who served his country as a soldier and a public servant; served his church and fellow parishioners as a faithful member; and served his entire community through his efforts that materially assisted Beloit in obtaining an attractive and useful public library and outstanding hospital.