Michael was such a wonderful guy -- deeply kind, always respectful, values- centered, sweet-natured, genuinely decent -- a gentleman in the truest sense of the word. I was one of his clients for more than 20 years, but what that really means is that I was lucky enough to have the chance to talk with him every 5 or 6 weeks for more than 20 years.
We talked about everything over the years -- politics, our work, culture, music, you name it -- but the thing that animated him the most, always, was his family. He was a big family man -- that was what seemed most important to him. I hope this doesn't distress Karen, David and DeAnna, and Matthew, but there are hundreds and hundreds of people who you have never met but who know everything about you. Well, maybe not everything, but alot. Michael talked about you as much as he loved you. And for the last several years, hundreds of us saw pictures every month or so of the boys.
Michael was midwestern friendly -- he genuinely liked people, he was naturally warm. Long ago, I got used to the fact that Michael was almost always going to spend a few extra minutes with the person ahead of me -- I just had to wait while they chatted and showed each other pictures on their phones -- and the person after me had to get used to the same thing.
He was really talented, and he was so modest about it that it took me years to realize it. He obviously had an artist's eye for beauty, but beyond that, he could run a retail business, he could fix cars, he could make anything with his hands, he taught himself the guitar, he wrote songs, and more.
He also had a rock-bottom common sense, just a really good sense of what is the right thing to do. Partly, that was another one of his talents, but also he had a lot of experiences in life, and he spent his workdays talking to people from all walks of life, and I think all that deepened his sensibilities. I benefited -- in all those years I talked to him, there were more than a few times when he helped me think through a problem I had that was really troubling me, and he gave me some really good, common sense advice.
There is a word in the Jewish traditions that describes Michael really well -- a "mensch." It's German in origin, and its literal translation is a "person," but its connotation is a particular kind of person. The kind of person your grandparents tell you to be. The kind of person you want your children to grow up to be. A good person. Michael was a mensch. We will miss him. Deepest sympathies to Karen, David, DeAnna, Mathew, Wayne and Robert, and all loved ones. May his memory be for a blessing.
Howard J. Hoffman
