Carson City native returns to receive promotion to general

Lisa Yenter didn't see an Army officer in 1978 when she laid eyes on the long blond hair of the cute Reno frat boy she'd marry three years later.

And in 1981, when her shorn husband Mark Yenter was commissioned as an Army second lieutenant out of the University Nevada, Reno's ROTC program, she didn't dare imagine herself a general's wife.

But in this instance, fact is better than fantasy.

In all the pomp and circumstance it deserves, Colonel Mark Yenter will receive a coveted brigadier general's star during a ceremony in the Old Assembly Chambers of the Capitol on Friday.

Yenter, 50, is currently commander of the Pacific Ocean Division. He, his wife and 14-year-old son Marcus are stationed in Hawaii. The Yenters' daughter Lindsay, 20, is a student at UNR.

Achieving the rank of general is no easy task. There are only about 300 general officers at any one time, most of them brigadier (one-star) and major (two-star) generals. There are only 11 four-star generals, the pinnacle of an Army officer's career.

"This is his life," Lisa said Wednesday from her mother-in-law's southeast Carson City home, where she awaited her husband's arrival from Hawaii. "And he's always wanted to be a soldier. Our attitude is we are going to stay in until its not fun anymore, until it doesn't work for us anymore, but it's still working and we love it."

Yenter's mother Dorothy said that a friend sent her a card that read, "Congratulations on giving birth to a general."

"I thought that was so funny," Dorothy said. "It's true!"

That her son picked Carson City as the place to receive his star, said Dorothy, shows his love for the Silver State.

"In the military, you bounce around. You have military families, but when you can actually go back to a place with the kids you used to play with when you were little, when you can return to a place has meaning for you, it's special," said Dorothy.

Mark Yenter's milestone will be added to a family legacy that dates back to before Nevada was admitted to the union.

Dorothy's grandmother was born Sept. 4, 1864 in Washoe City, 56 days before Nevada became a state. She said her grandmother used to display a certificate stating she was a "Pioneer of the Territory."

Dorothy's grandfather was the water master for the county. He and her grandmother raised four boys in the white Victorian water master's house on Lakeview Hill.

Dorothy's father, Harold Berger, made his own mark in the city.

For 50 years, Harold had businesses on Carson Street where Cactus Jack's now stands. He owned a barber shop, bar, restaurant and a pool hall, until he changed it into a newsstand, she said.

Born and bred in Carson City, Dorothy married Army officer Kenneth Yenter and got to see the world. Kenneth Yenter retired as a lieutenant colonel.

Mark, her middle son, attended first grade here, but his father's career in military intelligence took the family to far-off places. Yet, Nevada was always home, said Dorothy. When it was time to go to college, Mark picked UNR.

In addition to his star, Yenter is also being inducted into the UNR Reserve Officer Training Corps Hall of Fame.

Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.