Thanking Mike

Mikey grilling for some celebration or other, outside City Hall in 2004, with a Wal*Mart bag over his head to deflect the wet March flurries. You can't tell here, but that red apron is covered with pink pigs.

I have only known a few truly selfless people in my life, and Mike was one. He was also a whistler, a lottery ticket buyer, a trout fisherman, a Junior Jazz coach, and a proud, kind father of five, four of whom (two sons and two daughters) he married off all in one summer. He was nuts about his five (and counting) grandchildren. I never heard him complain about anything. He was my boss until I left City Hall in January of 2005, and even then he wasn't resentful that I was leaving. "I knew you wouldn't be here long. You have too much potential." Mike had been battling cancer for some time and was in a lot of pain, so I wasn't surprised to hear about his passing. I think he was just 53. I'm sure everyone who knew him will miss him.