Mike graduated from Eau Claire High School and enlisted in the U.S. Navy at 19. He volunteered for Nuclear Power School and earned a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Nebraska and a Master’s in education from Boston University.
On September 6, 1968, he married Sheila Miller in Spooner, Wisconsin.
He honorably served 23 years as a U.S. Naval officer on board the USS Pledge MSO402, USS O’Brien DD975, USS George Philip FFG112, as Chief Engineer of the USS Racine CST1191 and as Director of Naval Science at Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Cape Cod.
After retiring from the U.S. Navy in 1996, he taught math and physics at the high school level for 15 years, retiring for the second time from Richmond High School in 2011.
On August 21, 1999, he married Wanda Drinkwater in Verona, Maine and made a new home in Maine for the last 18 years. Mike most enjoyed teaching, whether training Boatswain on board ship sailing the Pacific Ocean, his Algebra II students in high school, or his grandchildren to eagerly catch their first fish.
He was a well-loved member of the weekly Tuesday Morning Survivors VA Group and an active member of Augusta First Church of the Nazarene.
Survivors include his wife Wanda of Sidney, Maine; a combination of five children and their spouses, ten grandchildren, four siblings and their spouses of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, as well as innumerable sailors, students and Scouts across the world. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Mike’s Celebration of Life service will be at Augusta First Church of the Nazarene, 30 Nazarene Drive, Augusta, ME 04330 on Tuesday, November 28, 2017, at 10 a.m. with Pastor Rick Gundberg will be officiating. A reception will follow in the Fellowship Hall.
Staples Funeral Home is assisting the family. To send online condolences, please go to www.staplesfuneralhome.com.
In lieu of flowers, Mike has requested donations be made in his name to the Humane Society of Knox County at www.humanesocietyofknoxcounty.org or to Maine General Hospice at www.mainegeneral.org.
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