Im so sorry for your loss. I saw Mike as a dad and he took me in when I had nowhere to go. He assisted me in the search for my step daughter Megan Durr all over by posting missing child posters. He was an incredible and kind man and I miss him soo much. I had a picture of me in my air force group photo hanging by the front door of his home and he said it comforted him so I left it when I moved to Bay City TX. He made a difference in not only my life, but my familys life as well. I was happy to have been able to get to know Mike and spend time with him watching the westerns and looking at his coins with him. He was a kind man and he held no ill will against anyone. He missed his son so much and he always said that he would wish that he would call or visit. He said he didnt know what happened but they just quit talking. He love Elvis music and it was a pleasure to see him those mornings as he was so excited about it. I left the cable tv on for him when I moved out so that he could have some level of comfort. Last year when I visited him, he didnt look well and I tried so hard to get him some help, but when ems got there he wouldnt go. His puppies made him happy and you could tell when one would come up to him he would look at his watch and Crissy or Katie it was time to eat.. he was the only person I had ever met that had a water fountain for a water dish. He let me use his vehicle when I didnt have one and I cut his grass several times to help him. He let me put half my home in his back yard when I had nowhere to put my stuff.. as we were homeless for a couple weeks. He let my family sleep in his living room and was glad to see us there. He smiled and held our baby son Kaidyn I have lots of pictures and would love to share all I have with his family. I hope that if there is anything that we learned about this man ...its that true kindness and love is being there for people who need it and being a best friend to others. He was my best friend who never did me wrong and like a father to me as in guiding me to being wiser in life. Mike will be sorely missed and it pains me dearly to know hes not here anymore. He will always be in my heart and there truly was nothing I would not do to help him in his time of struggle. It was so much fun installing sheetrock and painting over the side windows in his house. He was going to hang a flat screen on that wall. He always had so much to say and tell you a story.. well he sure could! He did and did it well. Interesting and Intelligent he sure was. Ill never forget how he was so happy to see us when we visited him. Good Man. Great Father. Best Friend. A true story by Terry Barber -2509 Avenue K -Bay City, TX. 77414- 979 240 1886

In the summers in Lenexa, KS, where we grew up, we had to create our own fun.  One of the things we did was put up a high jump, made with long bamboo poles. I think maybe we were Olympic hopefuls!

We practiced learning how to jump over the cross bar -- first, going over forward (straddle style), then learning to do a scissor-kick, and finally, learning to go over backwards -- the famous "Fosbury Flop" (created by high jumper Dick Fosbury and made famous in the 1968 Summer Olympics).

Mike was always the "coach" -- telling us how to do it better. :-)  I don't seem to remember ever seeing him actually do the high jump himself!  I have always loved track and field sports - and I think it goes back, in part, to those early summer days.