Mike Whitmire, who was a licensed operator at Fort Calhoun. But, had been a road tech for several years died of a heart attack over the weekend (January 2005). Mike was originally from the Susquehanna area. I would like to hear the stories that he is swapping up there now. I am sure he wouldn't embelish any of them, not even a little bit!
If you were not laughing when you were around Mike... You have no sense of humor. He will be missed
Sam
It was a sad day for us all here at Ft. Calhoun! Mike will be greatly missed by his friends and co-workers in the Operations & RP departments.
OMG, no wonder he isn't answering his e-mails. This is just awful. I knew Mike from those Susquehanna days. We used to play golf together. We kept in touch by e-mail these last ten years or so. I will miss his humor greatly......
Jeff White
This is one of my saddest days, Tim Francis, Tim Lelo my heart goes out to you two guys. I know how close you were to him, me too.
Jubal
Mike was definitely one of the funniest people I've ever met. To call him sarcastic just doesn't do justice. I've cried many a tear due to hysterical laughter over some of his rantings. If he didnt like you he showed no mercy, but as a friend, he'd do anything for you. I think it should be noted that Mikey did not die from a heart attack as previously mentioned. It was complications from a hernia surgery from my understanding. Evidently the surgeon unknowingly nicked his bowel. He had gone back to the hospital days later complaining of pain, yet they sent him home. His roomate found him the next morning.
I'd hate like hell to be that surgeon when they finally meet up in the Big House!!
ps Sam & Jeff I hope you're doing well.
Eric
Mike was the ultimate stand-up comic relief in the business. He could turn a bad outage into a laugh-a-minute, no matter if everything around you was falling apart. His razor sharp wit will be sadly missed. I first ran into Mike at Susquehanna in the 80's, but didn't get to really know him until the Calhoun and Cooper outages. He'd leave everyone in stitches when he walked into the room. Getting that call from Calhoun the next day was a shock. Just too many of us are passing on lately........
.......HEY MIKEY, thanks for all the laughs and memories..........you'll always be remembered in the stories...........
Tim
This is a sad day Mike I will miss you we had many a laugh at Cooper and Ft. Calhoun and I will always remember him that way.
What a shock! I worked with Mike for a short period over 15 years (so long!) ago and, truthfully, I haven't thought about him for many years. When I read the post, a slew of memories came crashing back. We trained together and worked one outage together. A funnier, likable, sincere and, yes, more sarcastic person there never was. His stories kept me in stiches. I always tried to team with him duing a shift since I knew he would make that 6 pm to 6:30 am hell much more bearable. There was no one that I would rather be working next to while sorting-out booties full of urine or pigeon crap then Mike! My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. Although I haven't seen him in many years, I know his was the kind of spirit that will be missed.