Mike’s Celebration of Life Service on May, 17 2020
Danny Donnelly
Danny is Mike’s older brother.
Mike’s life reminds me of a quotation by Henry Adams: “One friend in a lifetime is much, two are many, three are hardly possible.” Mike was a friend to all and made the hardly possible, possible.
Robert Donnelly
Bobby is Mike’s older brother, and Danny’s younger brother.
My relationship with Mike began when Mike was 3-years old. I returned home to New Jersey after graduating Navy boot camp and brought my brother back a little navy sailor suit. That was the beginning of a long-term relationship with my brother.
Life’s journey’s takes us in different directions and places. After many years away from family, in 1995, my wife and I moved to Branson, MO — 700 miles from Atlanta. That was the beginning of our closer relationship with Mike and his family. We would travel to visit Mike for family reunions and holidays. Mike converted a spare upstairs room into a bedroom, which Alycia, Mike’s daughter, affectionately called our Bed & Breakfast Inn.
In 2018, we took a trip to Alaska — Mike, Janet, me, my wife Marcia, and Alycia. We did it just for the “HAL-I-BUT”. During that trip, Marcia and I decided to move to Georgia permanently. We put together a plan to arrive in 2020. Mike had other plans. Shortly after the Alaska trip, Mike found us a house — 1.6 miles away from his home. Mike flew out to Branson to get our house ready for sale. Mike moves so fast. In his short weekend trip, he fixed everything and got our house ready to sell.
We have been in Atlanta the past five months. I have spent so many of those days with Mike and connected so much. In five short months, I learned more about him than I knew about myself. I am so thankful to have had my brother in my life.
Alycia Donnelly Parker
Alycia is Mike’s daughter.
When you lose someone as amazing as my Dad, it’s hard to find the words or the ways to honor him- in fact, it’s just never going to be enough to match the man that he was. I’m going to do my best to share a glimpse of the man I knew as Daddy.
In May of 1955, a preemie was born weighing less than 2 pounds in a small
hospital in Elizabeth, NJ. And at that time in the Fifties, they carefully
wrapped him in a white blanket and sent him home with his mother to be
cared for… not expecting he would live. To overcome such odds was a
miracle. But his struggles at life would not soon be over as that baby grew
into a young man.
Then in 1980, Mike Donnelly, working in a paint shop in Miami Florida met
Janet Lee Rogers. Their courtship was crazy love. To hear my Mom talk of
those times just makes my heart patter. Like the time he tried to impress
my mom by cooking steaks and almost burned down his mother’s trailer.
But don’t worry mom, he was driving a Lincoln. 😉
It was in this time that my father’s life pivoted solidifying the man he was to
become over the next 4 decades. The boy that wasn’t supposed to live built
a life on an impossible dream. To quote Elvis “ And the world would be
better for this. That one man scorned and covered with scars still strove
with his last ounce of courage To reach the unreachable star”.
Michael, the craftsman, began his build. In October of 1981 – a little girl
came out kicking and screaming. And in April 1983, a son. At that time, we
had no idea how blessed our lives would be with the Daddy we were given.
When my brother and I were kids, my Dad built a childhood for us – no
literally, built. One of my favorites was the time he iced the driveway the
night before a freeze in Georgia and built us a wooden sled just so we
could go sledding down the hill in our driveway. Or every Christmas we
would go cut down our own Christmas tree but – let’s be honest, a little ole
7-footer wasn’t going to cut it. We needed the 11 and a half foot one – and
not 12 foot because then we wouldn’t be able to put the star on top.
As a young girl, my daddy was a gentle guide. He taught me to stand up
straight and garner that confidence inside me. But he wasn’t one to beat it
into me. And he certainly wasn’t one to ever tell me what to do. He gently
guided me on my way. The first year I ever played softball – I was terrible.
Like the kid that the coach just puts in for the “participation award”. After
the season was over, it would have been perfectly acceptable to chalk that
up as a loss and just move on to something I might have had a chance at.
But gently and patiently, without me even knowing it – my Dad just asked
me to play catch. And it was just that – just me and my Dad playing catch in
the yard. From then on, I loved playing and eventually became very good.
For years following, I would play all across the State. My Dad was
ALWAYS there – watching out from the outfield fence. Close enough to
watch me but far enough away to let me grow.
Some of the fondest memories of my father include times when his sense
of humor was just so magnetic. Corny, playful, goofy. Did you get your hair
cut? Nope, I got them all cut. Or his selfies in my phone or my doorbell
camera or when I asked him to turnaround and smile – all I have is a
picture of his butt “smiling” for me. Or I would tell him he had dirt in his
eyelashes and he would say “Dem is my filters”.
As I grew up, my Dad continued to guide me but even more than that – was
always there for me – NO MATTER WHAT. What I needed and what he
needed to be changed over time. What is remarkable is that my Dad was
always busy – he always had stuff to do but that didn’t change his being
there. Our bond grew even stronger – in ways I don’t even think we
realized. My Dad was my rock – my ear to listen – my guide – my anything
I needed and sometimes what I didn’t know I did.
Even as the challenges of independence and stubborn youth pulled me
away, my dad was leaving bread crumbs for me to return. It wasn’t until
college that I began to realize that what I had with my Dad was something
really special and rare. The admiration and love and pride I had for my
daddy was obvious. And quite intimidating for any man that entered my life.
But not in a scary, pull out his shotgun type of way – he didn’t have to. Just
the good man he was and the love I had for him was intimidation enough. I
dated a guy once that made a not so flattering comment about some work
my Dad had done on a house and I remember thinking “You know, I don’t
think this is going to work out”.
Even when I got my first real job out of college, my relationship with my Dad continued in new ways. When I took a traveling job in my mid-twenties, my relationship with my father shifted to rides to and from the airport every week. Hey Dad, I’m here. Ok, meet me in the way way down. Your mom made spaghetti. Your dog needs
discipline.
In the last 9 years, I began to build my own family. My Dad’s mark was
made on every aspect of my life through what he crafted with his hands – a
wine cabinet I’ve moved 3 times, the arbor under which I was married, the
rocking chair I rocked by first baby… And if my Dad was a one of a kind
Daddy– he was one hell of a Papa. My Dad believed in family and most
importantly spending time together. Whether it was camping, building
natural wonders in the backyard, birthdays or blowing big stuff up on July
4th, he instilled in me – the importance of family and these times in the
presence of those we love – laughing, playing, being. At a time in your life
when most children continue to grow away from their parents, the bread
crumbs from my father pulled me in closer into a deeper connection as a
wife and a mother. And he grew into his role as a Father in Law and a
Grandpa.
And sometimes it was just fun to go get into trouble with my Dad – like the
day I hung out with my Dad, just like any day and bought a 1979 Corvette.
The next week we spent the day changing the u-joint in the back passenger
side. Now, to this day, I have no idea what we did. But we did it together.
I have no doubt my Dad knew how much I loved him and how important he
was to me. I told him often – sometimes serious and mostly playful like the
Daddy’s little girl I would always be. “Hey, whatcha doin? What do you
think I’m doing, Alycia? Well, Isa love you. And he would smile… I love you
too booger butt.
With a Daddy like mine, there just aren’t enough words to fully encompass
all that he was and all that he leaves behind within us. I would not be the
woman, wife, mother I am today without my father. I am the luckiest little
girl in the world to have been blessed with 38 years with my loving big-
hearted rock. He was humble but took pride in his work. He was a listener
who believed in family and working hard. He was a goofball who always
tried to make you smile with his mighty fine sense of humor.
My Dad gave this life all he had. He knew what was important and he built
a legacy in each and every one of us to take those pieces and build them
into our own lives.
I was never going to be ready for him to leave. The immense hole in my
heart will forever grieve for the moments we had yet to share together or
him being able to see his grandkids grow up. You better watch out, that Owen’s gonna be your trouble maker.
But look around at his life’s work –the preemie that was never supposed to live – but he did! I could continue to shed tears for the life he had yet to live but that wouldn’t do justice to the life he did live.
I will always love you, Daddy. May you rest in peace knowing you reached the unreachable star.
Night Night.
Michael Donnelly
Michael is Mike’s son.
Memorial to Mike Donnelly 