ForeverMissed
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This memorial website was created in memory of our loved one, Michael Kaczmarek, 36 years old, born on January 4, 1975, and passed away on September 7, 2011. We will remember him forever.
January 4
January 4
Happy Birthday Mike!  You are close to our hearts and remembered every day! 
August 14, 2023
August 14, 2023
I think of you often Buddy, Miss you. You have sure left a great legacy behind. I know you are watching over them. Love you Mike.
January 4, 2022
January 4, 2022
Happy Birthday Mike! This last year has been a milestone...10 years since you've passed, Brock graduated HS., Brayden is already 17, and your sweet baby Brooklyn is a teenager! The kids are strong and determined...just like you. Mike you are never forgotten.
January 4, 2022
January 4, 2022
Larry and I are thinking of you today Colleen, and all the rest of Mike's family
September 7, 2021
September 7, 2021
Can’t believe it’s been 10 years - You are still thought of every day and missed greatly.   You were gone way too soon and left a big whole in many lives.  Wish you were here with us and watching your kids grow, they are amazing. You are thought of daily and will never be forgotten! 
September 7, 2020
September 7, 2020
Worked on the grapes from our little vineyard today...Here’s to you Mike...a GOOD man taken too young. 
January 4, 2020
January 4, 2020
Happy Birthday on what would be your 45th!  You are remembered this day and every day and are truly missed.  Love you up in heaven!
September 7, 2019
September 7, 2019
So here we are year 8....Brock is driving, Brayden is an tremendous athlete and Brooklyn loves volleyball....so much she’s broken her arm twice! Mike we know you’re enjoying the view and laughing...the kids are growing strong in character and Christian values....modeling your values. Miss you deeply
January 4, 2019
January 4, 2019
Happy Birthday Bro! Too many days have gone by since I have seen your smiling face! But I will celebrate your life today, the time we had, and the memories I will have forever.
September 7, 2018
September 7, 2018
7 years...it feels like yesterday. Tears flow, sadness fills our hearts, but we know there is no pain for Mike.
January 4, 2018
January 4, 2018
So I bet Mike's watching from Heaven as Brock starts driving!!! Another year another milestone.
September 7, 2016
September 7, 2016
How can it be 5 years already! Time does not heal all sadness.
January 4, 2016
January 4, 2016
There is a space in our HEARTS that only YOU fill and time will never erase.
January 4, 2014
January 4, 2014
In our hearts forever. We see Mike in everything his children say and do!
September 13, 2011
September 13, 2011
I'm so sorry for you and your family. I know you don't know me, I'm a friend of Brit Kaczmarek. She has mentioned your story and it saddens me so much. I think of your family often and I will pray for you.
September 12, 2011
September 12, 2011
Lyn,
I send my sympathy and also my prayers for the strength that you need as a single parent. We many times don't know why things happen that appear to have no reason for happening. I wish the best for you and your family. Uncle

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Recent Tributes
January 4
January 4
Happy Birthday Mike!  You are close to our hearts and remembered every day! 
August 14, 2023
August 14, 2023
I think of you often Buddy, Miss you. You have sure left a great legacy behind. I know you are watching over them. Love you Mike.
January 4, 2022
January 4, 2022
Happy Birthday Mike! This last year has been a milestone...10 years since you've passed, Brock graduated HS., Brayden is already 17, and your sweet baby Brooklyn is a teenager! The kids are strong and determined...just like you. Mike you are never forgotten.
Recent stories

Farming with Mike

January 9, 2012

 

I had the privilege of being Mike’s father-in-law and I could not have been more blessed to have Mike as my 3rd son. He was a natural fit for the Schlawin family. I have always been over-protective of my only daughter, but Mike was the perfect match for Crystalyn (alias Lyn, I am the only one that still calls her Crystalyn).  

When Mike started farming his own land with Ken, I asked if he needed any help with the harvest, Mike was quiet and said he would call. I suspect that Crystalyn may have reminded him that her dad wanted to play with the big tractors.  

I had the opportunity to help (I called it help, Mike and Ken probably had a different thought) for several years and I learned a lot from both Mike and the Kaczmareks’ about modern farming and the challenges and regulations that they had to overcome. I don’t think they ever totally understood that coming out to the farm was relaxing for me, not dealing with the FDA or issues in the office. 

Through the breakdowns, the “walks of shame” and the weather, I never saw Mike get visibly angry or upset. Mike would usually just be his quiet self, determined to overcome the problem or issue and get back to business.  

The first year that Mike farmed without Ken proved to be challenging due to multiple breakdowns and bad weather. I was driving the grain truck back from the bin site and drove around the corner in the field and wondered why Mike had stopped the combine in a rather odd position. As I rounded the corner, I understood why he had stopped. The rear left rim and tire was sitting next the front tire with the back axle buried in the dirt! Mike was sitting calmly in the cab with Brayden waiting for me to come back so he could unload the grain. Mike found a new “used” rim in Glenco, Molly took the tire and had it mounted on the new rim while Larry and I jacked up the combine so we could get the axle out of the dirt. After several hours of down-time, the new rim and tire back on the combine, ready to go; it starts to rain. During the entire challenging day, I never saw Mike get upset and several times he took the opportunity to tease his sisters and make them laugh.  

Mike will always be missed by an un-countable number of friends and family and I will never have a son-in-law as kind, gentle and wise as Mike!! Mike will always be missed by the Schlawin family!!

Memories

January 4, 2012

Today would be Mike's 37th birthday! 

I have attempted to write some of my favorite memories of Mike over the past few months but it was just a little to hard to post, so I thought what would be his 37th birthday I will try.  So here is just a collection of some of my favorite memories of Mike.

Growing up on a farm we spent most of our summers outdoors, Mike always had an idea of how to keep me and my sisters entertained.  In the evenings we would crank up the radio outside and play basketball for hours.  It would always be Jill and I against Mike, most of the time he would win despite our efforts to trip him or push him into the electrice fence that was by our court, we all got our fair share of jolts those summers,just thinking back we spent hours on that court, it would have been nice just to play one more game for old time sakes.  Those summers when we were younger included building forts out of haybales or old plywood we found laying around, or building rafts to use when the field next to the house flooded.  Even as adults when we would help our dad during harvest and all 4 of us kids were together we would always have a great time watching old music videos on TV and reminising and playing jokes on each other, we reverted back to our childhood ways, I am sure our parents even were tired of our arguing as well.  Just last year he was even chasing me around the house as he found a dead mouse on the lawn, you would have that he would have outgrown torturing his sisters..

I really miss those days, we had tons of fun as kids and am sad that he doesn't get to do these things with his kids.  When I am with Mike's kids I see the best of Mike in those kids...With Brock I see Mike's sense of humor, Brock is a funny kid and Mike had that same sense of humor.   With Brayden I see Mike's adventurous side, Mike was creative and fearless and I see that with Brayden.  With Brooklyn I see Mike's kindness, Mike would stop what he's doing and help anyone that needed help.  It's nice to see that Mike will live on with in his kids.

Just some of my memories, after looking at some pictures this weekend I forgot I had a ton of more memories came back to life.  Mike tried to teach myself, Jill and Molly how to golf about 5 years ago, the patience of that man....I have a picture of Mike hitting the golf ball and all of us standing around him watching him, let's just say we only made it through 9 holes of golf that day and we ended up doing best shot because we would have been there all night.

 

My last memory I will share for now is when I went with Mike and Lyn to Rochester when Mike was to have his first Yervoy treatment.  It was the day following Easter and I drove them down to Rochester, we talked the whole way down about what he cooked for Easter, which was awesome, and about our dad and the farm.  I thought the talking would have distracted him from my driving, apparently he did not like the way I drove that day or any day.   Mike and I went to the Chemo section of the building and Lyn went to drop our left over lunch to my car, after Mike checked in we were sitting in the waiting room talking and he asked me if I was going to be ok, he knew how hard this was on us as well, I looked at him with tears in my eyes and I said I have to be ok, I am here for  you and I hate that you have to go through this...Mike grabbed my hand and said that he will be fine and thanked me for coming along to support him and that if I faint I am on my own as he gave that small smirk he would give when he was joking.   That was Mike always trying to make us feel better when he was the one going through all of this... 

There is not a day that I do not think of Mike and wish the outcome was different, I never gave up hope for him, if one person could have beat this it was going to be Mike.  Now it is up to us here to beat this cancer for him and my dad.   Happy Birthday Mike!

A little bad news....and a little good news

November 7, 2011

I was blessed to meet Mike when he first started working at the Farmer's Coop in Stewart, and then our friendship grew as he moved into the main agronomist's role in Buffalo Lake.  Crop planning meetings at our farm office would turn into afternoon gab sessions about farming, football and all sports (Mike and I discovered that we played against each other in high school when BLH played Silver Lake).  Lyn and my wife Sally were pregnant at the same time for Brock and Alyssa, and again for Brayden and Brooke....those discussions turned into comedy hour as we compared stories and laughed at their expense! Mike and I also shared a common thread in dealing with cancer.  My sister Kim had lost her battle with cancer in 1990 when she was a month shy of her 21st birthday.  That fact made it easier to talk with Mike about it and to understand the range of emotions....plenty of office visits ended up on this topic as well. 

It was a mix of emotions when Mike moved on to Wensman Seed...happy to see him climb up the ladder but sad to not be able to work with him and see him as much.  His knowledge of agronomy was just about second to none and he was just phenomenal to work with.

I do remember a specific story that made me laugh out loud in the midst of a tough situation.  The tornado that struck Buffalo Lake on June 24, 2003 destroyed the main office and created an absolute headache for Mike.  True to form though, Mike didn't fret and complain, he just rolled up his sleeves and went to work.  I was talking to him daily in the aftermath to offer help, check on our records, etc.  The first phone call I took from him went sort of like this..."well, I've got a little bad news...but a little good news too".  " Bad news is that your fertilizer book (about 6" thick) is gone with a lot of other records".  As I struggled to figure out the next step I asked what the good news was....he chuckled and said, "well, don't worry about having anyone else see it cuz it's probably shredded all over southern MN by now!"  All I could was laugh with him as it didn't pay to worry about it...I knew Mike would eventually have things under control! 

He was a great friend who left a wonderful legacy for his kids.  Simple lessons like hard work, patience, and perseverance were amplified in Mike's life.  He didn't panic when trouble arose, he just analyzed the problem and dealt with it.  He will be missed for now, but I am eternally grateful that we have a Heavenly Father that has given us a plan of salvation and the ability to see Mike again someday!

Deron Johnson

 

 

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