"Mike was very special to Carol, and therefore is very special to me. This is a hard time for her, but he is clicking up his heels again. God bless them both! George"
In loving memory of
Mike Birnbaum
June 3, 1917 - August 1, 2002
Mike Birnbaum, 85, endured a short illness and passed away peacefully at home in the arms of his devoted wife Carol on Thursday, August 1, 2002. The eldest of four children born to a Polish immigrant family in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York on June 3, 1917, he began a life of cultural enrichment which would be a hallmark during his entire lifetime. As a young man he learned many skills like teaching lip reading as a community service for the hearing impaired to help his family through intervals of poverty. He went on to earn his degree in accounting at City College of New York and participated in a Masters Program in Pittsburgh.
With the persistent encouragement of his father Hyman Birnbaum and mother Eva Schulsinger, he participated in numerous government examinations, which would lead him into government service as a civil servant in Washington, D.C. During his early employment in Washington, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and would learn flawless Mandarin Chinese at Harvard University, which ultimately led him to China as a translator for the U.S. Government. He stayed on in China for a short while after World War II as an aide to the United Nations relief efforts. Thereafter he would return to Washington and be sent on assignments including Strategic Air Command and be handpicked by General LeMay for a special unit in the Air Force while he also worked in the civil sector. He became a member of the State Department and Foreign Service, which launched him into a career of foreign aid assignments in countries like Bolivia, Taiwan, and Sri Lanka.
After retiring in Sri Lanka, he met his current wife Carol in Penang, Malaysia. On August 8 1982, they were married in Singapore where she maintained her pioneer chiropractic family practice. They worked and traveled the globe together for twenty years, choosing the Upper Peninsula of Michigan as their retirement heaven. Mike often commented to friends and family that this is where he wanted to die. Despite his world travels, he loved Marquette County as his favorite spot on earth. He took great pleasure in regular trips to Presque Isle, watching birds and wildlife in his wooded backyard, inhaling the evergreen fresh air, and always looking forward to displays of the Northern Lights.
A gentle man, few could resist his charismatic smile or his sparkling gold-flecked brown eyes. Many were drawn to his flowing white hair and white beard, lending him a guru-like presence. As a sage he dispensed advice freely to those who sought it. Mike loved to leap up in the air to click his heels after a generous meal in a restaurant with friends. He was a master of puns, word puzzles, and adored playing Scrabble for hours at a time. Mike enjoyed his playful inner child, and he would jump up during a song and gyrate to the rhythm of a reggae or blues tune. He also took his first trip to Disneyland at age 65, which he thoroughly enjoyed. Most of all, he was a man of grace and natural spirituality.
Mike is survived by his wife Carol Elder-Birnbaum; stepson Jonathan Bruce Elder; sister, Loretta Epstein (Bill) of Newtonville, NY and four children, Ashley (Brian) Coffey of Franklin, MA; David (Terri) Birnbaum of Santa Fe, NM, Debbie Frederick of Sanibel Island, FL and Lisa Birnbaum (Don Morrill) of Tampa, Fl. He is also survived by six grandchildren, Taj, Rachel, Catherine, Cale, Liza and Jackson; also eight nieces and nephews and their families.
Mikes family will receive visitors at the Canale-Tonella Funeral Home on Monday, August 5 from 5 to 6:30 pm., after which there will be a brief prayer service led by Pastor Jon Magnuson and Dr. Paul Lehmberg.
Those wishing to make donations are kindly requested to direct them to the Marquette County Humane Society, 84 Snowfield Road, Negaunee, MI 49866.
A photo gallery of Mike as well as his guestbook may be viewed at www.canalefuneral.com
Tributes
"My father was truly loved by his three children - Lisa, David, and myself - who will miss him dearly. We will cherish our last visit with him in May/June when we went to see him for his 85th birthday. His smiles, his joy, his words of love, and his great pleasure at our being there console us now that he is gone. Sad that these pictures don't tell the whole story of him - there was so much that can't be shown."
"I am thankful that I was fortunate to have met Mike in 1988 at Carol and my 25th highschool reunion. What an unforgettable character. The love they shared was wonderful to behold. Carol, know that your soulmate is at peace."
"My father guided the steps of his four children--with great love--away from him into our own lives, ones he hoped would be professional, affording us independence and happiness. This had been his father's selfless vision when he encouraged him to leave home as a young man full of promise. Daddy loved his father for it, as I love my father today. Without regard to gender, he had the highest hopes that we would all enter careers that would take us into better lives. That is his legacy to me, as well as a wealth of love, friendship, and respect. He is with me now in everything I do. He became a great friend when I stayed with him some months in Sri Lanka, after my college graduation--before he eased me out into my adult life. We played snooker together, Scrabble, and our own invented word games--and we talked seriously about our most essential concerns. He was a loving father, and I am deeply saddened by his death. Still I have him, as I always have, guiding me with his love."
"As Mike's eldest daughter, I have obviously known him for longer than have my siblings, but I found myself feeling some envy as I read my youngest sister Lisa's tribute. I never got to know my father that well, once I became an adult. We have always been separated by great distances, with annual visits being the best we could usually manage. It is ironic, then, that in being with him during his last hours I felt closer to him than I had in very many years. I had the joy of seeing him beam at me and say, "I'm delighted, love!" I am sure that he recognized that my husband Brian and I had come to help him and Carol during that difficult time. I held his hand and noticed for the first time how much it looked like mine, and as I heard Carol describing their life together I realized how much I am like him in my tastes and habits. We were very privileged to have been able to support Carol in those few days before and after his death, and we were moved to hear the outpouring of love at his memorial service. Thanks to all of you who have been his friends and who continue to help Carol in the future. Brian and I were impressed most of all during our visit by my father and Carol's outstanding example of devotion to each other, and I know he would want us all to take care of her now."
"I've loved my big brother since I became aware that I had one. He was gentle and kind and always made me feel loved and protected by him. He took me to shows in the big city -- New York City -- where we enjoyed the musical stage shows at the Paramount Theatre before their first-run movies. Sometimes we stayed to see the stage show a second time! After the show, we enjoyed cream cheese sandwiches on raisin bread at the then popular quick-food eateries I'd never been to before, or went to a Horn & Hardhart cafeteria where you inserted coins and the lid opened to expose what I considered the most delicious food I'd ever tasted! He introduced me to his friends, most of whom loved to dance as did my big brother. He taught me the then popular "shag" that we were happy to perform for anyone who asked us. We had a special break during the dance where my big brother caught me up and onto his knee before twirling me back down on the dance floor. That lasted only a few years until I grew up and became too heavy to lift. And oh so many ways in which he gently launched me into my teens. He allowed me to wear his high school graduation ring that I proudly showed off to my friends, leading them to believe my "boyfriend" had given it to me. I was heartbroken when he was called to army service, bu he arranged to have me visit him in Washington, D.C. just before he left, taking me to parties there, and finally leaving me in the care of his best friend, Buddy, who took me site seeing for the rest of the day to help cheer me, until he saw me safely to the train that would take me home. I missed Harold so much, I wrote to him every day. He encouraged those letters, and I was happy to keep him informed about all of us at home. The years never dimmed my admiration and love for that wonderful man. I'm grateful to have had him in my life all these years. His great love for Carol during his last 20 years was a wonderful thing to behold, and I shall do my utmost to extend to her my gratitude for the happiness she brought to a very important person in my life."
"Dear Friends and Family, Although I had very little time due to pressing decisions and extreme fatigue following two months' of Mike's various treatment needs, I wrote a small obituary anyway. First, I would like to correct the birthplace of Mike's parents. I discovered that they were born in Gallacia, Austria, which became Poland again in 1919, according to his sister Loretta. I may have made other small mistakes--I cannot be sure. What I do want the world to know is what a truly WONDERFUL MAN my husband Harold "Mike" Birnbaum was and still is in my heart. I considered him the right side of my body. We chose to spend all of our spare time together because we felt we thrived in one another's presence. Of course, we traveled and we went out with other people, but what we enjoyed most was being alone together. Mike accomplished much in his lifetime, but I will remember him for the everyday kindnesses and gestures of love that he made. For instance, he would never pass me while I was seated without stopping to kiss the top of my head. My whole being would quiver with what felt like a true blessing--rendered at the top of my crown chakra. If I have had any big virtue, it has been the faithful drinking of purified water. I more than exceeded the standard "required" amounts daily. Because he knew how much I enjoyed our dispensed water, he always kept a pretty painted pitcherful for me on my vanity sink. He would walk by and comment how it was getting low and rush out to fill it from the five-gallon container. He performed this ritual several times a day for the ten years we have lived in the United States. While I was the designated cook in the family, he appointed himself the plate collector, scraper, and cleaner. He maintained the dishwasher. He also took care of the cat box and garage trash containers. These jobs may sound small, but each one was a task joyfully performed by a man who embodied joy. Everyday we spoke of all of the things we were grateful for, and I'm not talking about objects or money. We recited a litany of our blessings in just the ability to BE and our good fortune in having found one another in this lifetime; and we were excited to realize that our 20th anniversary was coming up on August 8,2002. Sadly, he left his body on August 1st. I sat that night and ate a small can of smoked oysters and drank two glasses of white wine--one for each of us. I talked to him and exclaimed what a beautiful day that was. I continue to talk to Mike silently and out loud. I am still sleeping with the clean shirt we put on him late in the afternoon a couple of hours before he died. It is folded like some wondrous piece of origami and lets me slide it gently under my pillow. A small container with two deer on a mountaintop (the size of a tooth fairy box)I have dubbed "Little Mike" because it sits on my nightstand with some of his ashes enclosed in miniature majesty. As everyone keeps reminding me, I am lucky to have known and lived with such a kind, warm, and fuzzy man. Nevertheless, I did want more. I try to do something to make him proud of me each day, and I pray that he is comfortable and happy. I would like to imagine him sitting under a tree brimming with ripe fruit by a pond with his sister Sarah, watching koi and talking about the beautiful flowers and the depth of the blue sky. His spirit still resides with me, as it always will. Hello, My Dear Mike. You Have My Love Always. Your Devoted Wife Carol"
"Mike is one of the most influential people in my life. It was my joy to be accepted to go to Singapore in 1983 to practice with Mike and Carol in the clinic that Carol pioneered. Upon arrival, I stayed with them in their beautiful flat near Tan Tock Seng hospital, and awoke each morning to the smell of the warm tropical air, the sound of exotic birds, and their wonderful caring hospitality. Mike brought out beautiful, deep orange/red papayas and taught me the art of slicing them so that when lime juice is squeezed on them, they become unforgettable. Mike's language ability was amazing. One day he told me one of his favorite chinese jokes: "Hama tyau jing de sheng yin shr shemna?" The joke asks: "What is the sound a frog makes when it jumps into a well?" In chinese, if you don't know the answer, you say: "Bu dong". It means "I don't know". "Bu dong" is also the actual sound the frog would produce when hitting the water. Mike is one of the most influential people in my life, though he probably didn't realize it. This is because he taught me to abandon my comic wing tip ways for sandals. Everytime the wing tips call, I know that there is a better, holier way. My hope is that in my living, I can be true to the example I saw in Mike. That I can also truly live."