Mike was born on March 10, 1944 to Ralph and Brooksie Deatherage. He was the oldest of six children, Barry, Phyllis, John, Kathy, and Nancy. He was preceded in death by his Dad and his sister, Phyllis Wild (search Wild on imorial.com); his mother (BDeatherage on imorial) passed away on September 13, 2016 at the age of 94. Mike married Donna Taylor and had one daughter, Jennifer in May 1964 in E. St. Louis, Illinois. Mike was a railroader having spent 30 years with Missouri Pacific Railroad in St. Louis, Mo, Monroe, Louisiana, Houston, Texas, Omaha, Nebraska, and retired to San Antonio, Texas. He also worked for Railtex in San Antonio. Mike never knew a stranger and had so many friends across the country. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2005 and fought the hard fight til the very end. He loved life, he loved his family, and he really loved good food - when asked how he enjoyed his meal, he would reply "Outstanding, its the best I've ever had". Mike and Donna had a very close group of friends - and every Friday night was their night to enjoy each others company. Mike and Donna had always been the "home away from home" for his siblings and his many nieces and nephews. Going to their house was where we all liked to vacation. Perfect hosts always, it was and will remain a comfortable place to visit. Their daughter, Jennifer, was the center of their life as they watched her grow, go to school, graduate from college, and eventually realize her dream of being in radio and tv. Mike and Donna loved animals as evidenced by their concern for catching and spaying/neutering feral cats that roamed their neighborhood. Those cats show up every morning and every evening to be fed. Have to be careful tho because after dark the racoons showed up (he called them The Coon Brothers) and ate the cat food.They also have cats inside the house they dearly love. Every cat has a name inside and out.
We will all miss his smile, his wisdom, his quiet sense of humor and his ability to talk to everybody he came across from the gardener to CEOs of large corporations. He was well-read and self-educated on a multitude of subjects. He wrote poems and short stories, was an avid student of the Civil War, and excitedly traced his roots back past their landing at Plymouth Rock. He found ancestors such as Ulysseus S. Grant and one of the Kings of England (I'll have to find out which one).
Please, if anyone else has something they'd like to put in here or upload a picture, I have given you the signon and password to do so. Please feel free. You can also add to the one for my Dad or Phyllis.
"Remembrance
You can shed tears that he is gone,
or you can smile because he has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that he'll come back,
or you can open your eyes and see all he has left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see him,
or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow
and live yesterday
or you can be happy for tomorrow
because of yesterday.
You can remember him
and only that he's gone,
or you can cherish his memory
and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back,
or you can do what he'd want:
Smile, Open Your Eyes,
Love and Go On.
