Mike has been volunteering at SIRE for close to five years and started after his daughter became a volunteer. In his own words, he would wait and “twiddle his thumbs” while she was in classes, so he decided to jump in and go through the training to volunteer himself. We are sure glad he did as anyone who knows Mike can attest that he is a tireless worker and not only volunteers as a leader and side walker but also DHP’s and does many projects around our entire site.
Mike started volunteering out at the Fort Bend site, but after moving out to Montgomery County, came out to Hockley as our location was closer. He told me the move to Montgomery County was done so that his daughter could potentially have a horse, but then she moved away to college and still to this day, there are no horses on his land. Hmm…maybe Mike should look into sheep or goats?
In his previous “before volunteering” life, Mike was a forensic scientist for the Houston Police Department firearms lab for 23 years. We had quite the discussion about forensic sciences…let’s just say that I tried to look smart and follow what he was saying, but I don’t think our IQ’s are on the same playing field!
Mike’s family includes three children; daughter Nikki who had cerebral palsy and passed away in 2006, son Lee and youngest daughter Kellie. Mike was married to Susan, who was a first grade school teacher and she passed away in 1998.
Mike also currently volunteers at his church and is an active boy scout leader. I can ask Mike to do a million different things and his quick response is always “sure!” We value all of the different skills that Mike offers and appreciate him as a volunteer and the many hours he dedicates to SIRE Hockley.