Mike was raised in Ithaca, Michigan venturing off to the University of Wyoming on a baseball scholarship and then onto Clatsop Community College in Astoria, Oregon, earning a degree in Forestry Management. Mike was hired as Assistant Forester for Pope & Talbot, moved on to the US Forest Service and then spent 7 years as Nursery Superintendent with Industrial Forestry Association. During that time, he became the youngest mayor in Oregon at the age of 27. He also served on the City Council prior to his mayoral run. Mike then went on to work for 34 years in the sanitary chemical industry and recently retired from Buckeye International in St. Louis, Missouri as Vice President and Director.
Mike and his wife Dianne have returned home to Michigan and are third generation owners on property Mike’s grandparents owned along the Muskegon River. Mike and “Di” built a new home on the river and are lifetime members of the MRWA. Sustainability of the watershed is critical to Mike and he is very much looking forward to his new role on the Board of Directors.
Mike is an avid fly fisherman and tier; he enjoys hunting and is getting back to his forestry roots managing his family tree farm.