Mike’s Story

Early Life

Mike’s father was in the army and stationed at Fort Holabird, Maryland when he met his soon-to-be-wife at a USO dance. Mike was born in August 1956 in Baltimore. In his first nine years, Mike’s family moved eight times before settling in University Park, Maryland.

In high school, Mike developed into an honor roll student, worked on his school’s award-winning newspaper, and ran track and cross country. His senior year he was a member of the state championship cross country team and was an individual state champion in track. Throughout high school, Mike worked most weekends, and during the summer.

Mike met his wife Kathleen when they ran on the same high school track team. Their first date was a running one. They got engaged on the day of her Senior Prom, and began budgeting and saving for their future. They were married in May of 1976.

Kathleen and Mike’s early frugality was rewarded when they purchased their first home in Green Meadows, Maryland while still in their early 20’s. Within four years, Mike would be elected as President of that working class neighborhood’s Community Association.

The working years and raising a family

Mike’s first job was helping his father build many of the first homes in the planned city of Columbia, Maryland. He learned to work hard and enjoyed seeing the product of that hard work become a home, and those homes become a community. His early work experience also included groundskeeper, maintenance man, and mall cop. He valued the different perspectives that the variety of jobs provided.

While attending college, Mike worked the early morning shift for UPS. When Kathleen became pregnant with their first child, Mike left school to work full time as a UPS delivery driver. All four of their children were born at home with a midwife and Mike aiding the delivery. During their years raising a family, Mike and Kathleen also fostered two at-risk children.

In 1982, Mike started Homespun Woodworking and created a line of handcrafted cremation urns which he marketed throughout the Northeast, Midwest, and Canada. Over the next two decades, he transitioned into cabinet-making, and eventually into electrical work, becoming a licensed master electrician.

During the 90’s and early 2000’s, Mike added high school track coach to his resume, guiding hundreds of athletes and more than a dozen teams through championship seasons, twice earning Coach of the Year honors.

In the mid-2000’s, with their youngest child in college, Mike and Kathleen began to spend time in, and fall in love with, the Rocky Mountains. Little did they know how significant the region would be for them in the years ahead.

Moving into retirement

The 2008 housing market collapse brought challenges and changes to Mike and Kathleen’s lives, leading them to a new life in Wyoming. They were glad to escape the congestion and rush of life in a metropolitan area.

Once in Wyoming, Mike worked, wrote a couple books, and became increasingly involved in the community. In 2014, he was recruited to run for House District 46. He knocked on doors in the farthest reaches of Albany County, with many folks commenting that they’d never before had a candidate come to their door. He fell short in a close race. Perhaps this was for the best.

In the year following the 2014 election, Mike began feeling increasingly fatigued, a notable change for someone who had run 100-mile ultra-marathons. In July of 2015 he was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma. He started chemotherapy and an arduous, intense battle for his life began.

Following a multitude of health challenges over the next 18 months, including a bone marrow transplant, Mike’s treatment was complete. He began a recovery that culminated when he designed and built the home where he lives with Kathleen and their daughter and her family.

Mike’s life now, and what lies ahead

In the years after his cancer battle, Mike became increasingly involved in the community and has found a multitude of ways to give back. Concerned about what the future holds for our children, he organized numerous climate awareness events, including the first state-wide Wyoming Climate Forum. He also became active in efforts to encourage renewable energy and was a founding member of the Alliance for Renewable Energy.

Mike served our community as a member of the Laramie Building and Fire Code Board of Appeals. He served our state on the Science Standards Review Committee for the Wyoming Department of Education, which successfully modernized our out-of-date science standards.

With climate change accelerating, Mike shifted toward making our communities stronger and more resilient to the challenges that lie ahead. He was a founding board member of the Wyoming Food Coalition and served five years as chair of its Sustainable Ecosystems working group. He believes strengthening our local and regional food systems is crucial to the future health of our communities.

In 2022, Mike co-founded the Laramie Valley Jackalopes, offering cross country and track & field programs to youth in the Laramie community. He has served as the Program Director since it’s inception, and enjoys seeing a new generation of young athletes develop their own love of these sports.