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!!

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!

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

  I wish I could have shared this at the Celebration of Life, but the words would have been mixed with too many tears. 

  I remember the day our daughter called home to tell us she met THIS BOY.  He was tall, strong and a farmer's son.  We soon met Mike and a mother knows when her child has met their soul mate.  Mike was instantly loved by us.  He was kind, generous and loved our daughter.  One problem, Lyn was a city girl!  She went for a weekend to meet his family at the farm.  She called us secretly to say "They have cows right outside the kitchen window"!  We were afraid she could not see herself as a "farmers wife".  But, they worked that little detail out and learned to embrace Mike's love of the land.  Now a new generation of Kaczmarek farmers has been born with Brayden loving the farm as much as his Grandpa Kaczmarek and his Dad.  Our family has been made richer because of Mike.  Our grandchildren will always know what an incredible man their Father was.

P.S.  The cows were not right outside the kitchen window.

  It was the night of Lyn and Mike's wedding, I had the honor of being their flower girl. I remember how grand Mike and Lyn looked, how perfect. I was about seven at the time, and very confused about most stuff going on. To be honest I don't remember a whole lot about the wedding, I do remember being very tired at about 9 o clock, and getting mad that I couldn't sleep :) But it was still a blast. 

  There is, however; one major thing I remember. I will forever hold it dear, even though to many, people it wouldn't be much. There was a hall way, and there were two rooms, both rooms had pictures on them, but I couldn't remember exactly which were which..Thats right, I'm speaking of the bathrooms. I watched person after person, walk in and out of the rooms. One I saw a mother, walking out with a little boy, that threw me off. A girl then walked out of the other one with a bucket of stuff..It was so confusing!

  But then, like a knight in shining armor, Mike said my name,"Brooke." Looking up, and I mean WAY up, I saw him standing there smiling. He slowly got down to my height, so we were eye to eye. He asked me what I was doing. So I slowly told him, embarassed. Mike gave a chuckle stood up, looked at the doors and gave me a puzzled look!!! I WAS SO CONFUSED! This was way to scary for me. Mike then looked at the signs and nodded his head.

 That nod, for some reason, made me laugh. Mike looked at me, walked up to the door, pointed at the picture and said," Would I wear a skirt?"

To this day on I know what them pictures mean, thanks to Mike. This will always be my story of Mike. Thanks Mike ♥