[Wayne C.]

How do you describe what Mike did for FIRST and do him justice?

You simply cant.

Mike was a perennial friend and great supporter of my team ever since we met years ago. He thought nothing of giving up most of his weekends and energies to running all over the Northeast with the NASA field and his mobile machine shop. And wherever he went he rallied the kids into a working team that learned both how the field worked and how to work together. He gave and gave without fanfare or glamour. Many of the kids at competitions never met Mike, but he was always there behind the scenes making sure that they could play. We are proud that Mike regularly honored us by wearing one of our Hawaiian shirts wherever he went.

At BE we made a tiki trophy in his name and he often picked the "unique" but overlooked robot to award it to. After the event we would all go out for dinner and Mike would challenge the kids with math puzzles and swap stories with us all. And he had some stories...

Mike leaves a vacuum in the FIRST world that will be impossible to fill. I hope his memory inspires the rest of us to step up and contribute more to further the ideals that Mike exemplified.

We'll miss him sorely. Our condolences to his family.

Wayne C. and team 25