Mike is one of our originals. He’s been volunteering at Resale Depot since the week after we first opened. He started out as a cashier, but 5-6 years ago he moved on to be our non-fiction book guy. He volunteers here once or twice a week whenever he can. His wife, Sue, also volunteers here and helps out with the children’s books. They have three children and seven grandchildren all spread out across the country, living in Texas, Idaho, and Florida.
Mike was born in Mississippi, but has moved all around the world. He traveled around Europe while living in Germany for a while. He served in the Navy during Vietnam from 1963 to 1965, which gave him the opportunity to travel around the Pacific. After the Navy, he went to John Brown University, a small Christian school in Arkansas, for 5 years to become an electrical engineer. He worked at Consumers Energy for a while and married Sue in 1977. Then he switched to Commonwealth Electric Company, which he retired from about nine years ago. Now he drives buses for Spring Arbor University and Jackson Christian Schools.
Mike also has lots of hobbies to keep him busy. He got his pilot’s license and belonged to a flying club, but when he had kids his priorities changed. “I just couldn’t justify the expense anymore. I wasn’t making any money off of it.” He is also into ham radio, he likes to fish, he reads history books, and he has a garden and an orchard of hazelnuts, chestnuts, and apples. “I never hurt for things to take up time. I’ve always got plenty to keep me going.”
Mike started volunteering here because his kids went to Jackson Christian Schools, which used to own Resale Depot. However, he continues to volunteer here because money is given to Jackson Christian Schools for every volunteer hour he works. “It keeps me occupied and out of trouble and it’s for a good cause.” Mike especially likes working in books. “You see the same ones over and over again and you start to think you’ve seen ‘em all.” Thank you Mike for the many many hours you have put into this store and for being one of our most reliable volunteers. We really appreciate all you do for us!