Maureen Williams Ashley wrote me that Mike passed away from Cancer (Leukemia ??) in November of 2006...That really shook me up!! During that same time I was going through Chemo and radiation treatment for my Cancer...Mike and I hung out together all during high school...He would always pick me up at my house for a ride to school...He drove this nice truck and we would cruise 4th street and drive out to Stinson beach all the time...We would always stand against the wall in front of our hall entrance at school and check everyone out who would walk by us...We were always holding up the wall!!!! I will miss you big guy.....
We will all miss Mike and that very cool laugh and smile of his.
He took such good care of the gold Ford Ranchero. It was real "eye candy."
We use to roam the hills and RR tracks, target shooting and hunting with that crazy McCusker dog "Max". the german short hair. We spent more time chasing that dog than we did anything else.
Mike and I attended Sonoma State together. Took many of the same classes. We both signed up for badminton as it was an easy "A".........plus there were a lot of coeds in the class.
He was also one of my attendants in our wedding party, along with a life long SR buddy, Wayne Maguilo. Both Mike, Wayne lived in Petaluma for awhile across from each other.
While I regret that I was out of town for his memorial service, I heard it was a huge SR turnout. A well respected SR fireman and friend to many.
On occasion, I would run into one of his beautiful daughters who was dating another TLHS grad's son, Bob Weaver.
Michael served the SRFD for 34 years. His cancer was mantle cell lymphoma. It was due to damage from his DNA from to his profession. He is memorialized @ the Sacramento State Capitol Park, on the granite wall that is dedicated to all firefighters that have given their life in the line of duty in the state of CA. It is a wonderful memorial. Each year they have a ceremony to honor the fallen whose names are added to the wall. Quite an amazing yet heartbreaking day to behold. His battle lasted for an entire year. He was a stellar stem cell transplant survivor @ Stanford in the summer of 2006. His last day was 11-20-2006. Our family misses his presence every day. He was a wonderful brother & human being. I was blessed to have such a great man in my life!
When I first moved to Terra Linda from the East coast, Mike was the first of the neighborhood kids to make friends with me. We lived in a house on Del Ganado just up the street from his. When school started he introduced to me to all the kids as his new friend even though I dressed differently and had that weird New York accent. We used to hike up in the hills together and hang out trying to design the next Cadillac. That would have been the 1962 model!! He was a great guy and although we drifted apart through our school years we remained friends. I saw him in front of his house some years a ago and we talked about our parents, kids and our love for fishing. We were going to get together and go fishing at some point in the future. I'm sorry we didn't get the chance to so, I'm sure it would have ignited a new camaraderie. He had a big heart and was a very compassionate man.
Maureen Williams (Ashley)
I THINK IT WAS NOV 2006. VERY SAD, HE WAS A GOOD MAN AND I UNDERSTAND A GOOD DAD TO 2 GIRLS.Mark Endicott
Maureen Williams Ashley wrote me that Mike passed away from Cancer (Leukemia ??) in November of 2006...That really shook me up!! During that same time I was going through Chemo and radiation treatment for my Cancer...Mike and I hung out together all during high school...He would always pick me up at my house for a ride to school...He drove this nice truck and we would cruise 4th street and drive out to Stinson beach all the time...We would always stand against the wall in front of our hall entrance at school and check everyone out who would walk by us...We were always holding up the wall!!!! I will miss you big guy.....Ken Regalia '69
We will all miss Mike and that very cool laugh and smile of his.He took such good care of the gold Ford Ranchero. It was real "eye candy."
We use to roam the hills and RR tracks, target shooting and hunting with that crazy McCusker dog "Max". the german short hair. We spent more time chasing that dog than we did anything else.
Mike and I attended Sonoma State together. Took many of the same classes. We both signed up for badminton as it was an easy "A".........plus there were a lot of coeds in the class.
He was also one of my attendants in our wedding party, along with a life long SR buddy, Wayne Maguilo. Both Mike, Wayne lived in Petaluma for awhile across from each other.
While I regret that I was out of town for his memorial service, I heard it was a huge SR turnout. A well respected SR fireman and friend to many.
On occasion, I would run into one of his beautiful daughters who was dating another TLHS grad's son, Bob Weaver.
Mike, we miss you.
KR
Donna McCusker '70
Michael served the SRFD for 34 years. His cancer was mantle cell lymphoma. It was due to damage from his DNA from to his profession. He is memorialized @ the Sacramento State Capitol Park, on the granite wall that is dedicated to all firefighters that have given their life in the line of duty in the state of CA. It is a wonderful memorial. Each year they have a ceremony to honor the fallen whose names are added to the wall. Quite an amazing yet heartbreaking day to behold. His battle lasted for an entire year. He was a stellar stem cell transplant survivor @ Stanford in the summer of 2006. His last day was 11-20-2006. Our family misses his presence every day. He was a wonderful brother & human being. I was blessed to have such a great man in my life!
Dave Ganapoler
When I first moved to Terra Linda from the East coast, Mike was the first of the neighborhood kids to make friends with me. We lived in a house on Del Ganado just up the street from his. When school started he introduced to me to all the kids as his new friend even though I dressed differently and had that weird New York accent. We used to hike up in the hills together and hang out trying to design the next Cadillac. That would have been the 1962 model!! He was a great guy and although we drifted apart through our school years we remained friends. I saw him in front of his house some years a ago and we talked about our parents, kids and our love for fishing. We were going to get together and go fishing at some point in the future. I'm sorry we didn't get the chance to so, I'm sure it would have ignited a new camaraderie. He had a big heart and was a very compassionate man.