WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
Lyle Claire Mikel, age 93, of Marcellus, passed away Monday, November 4th, 2024 at home surrounded by his loving wife and family.
He was born May 31, 1931 in Wakelee, Michigan, the son of Elmer and Helen (Williams) Mikel.
He was a graduate of Marcellus High School in the class of 1950.
After graduation he served in the US Army.
Lyle loved to dance and through that love of dance, he met the love of his life Rosalie Bingaman at the Jones Community Dance Hall.
Rosalie described Lyle as a wonderful dancer and said they danced every weekend doing the grapevine twist, round dancing and country square dancing and just had a ball!
On September 15, 1956 Lyle married Rosalie. They moved into the tiny three bedroom house that Lyle had purchased as a teenager. They took great joy throughout their entire married life building numerous additions and remodels, making it the home it is today.
They enjoyed gardening in their flower and vegetable gardens, gathering fruits and vegetables and canning together. They also enjoyed traveling up north to Arcadia staying with family and walking the beaches.
Lyle’s profession was Carpentry, Painting, Wallpapering, and Home repair. He was a Jack of all trades who could fix anything. Also as generations before him, he was a fur trapper.
Lyle and Rosalie spent the past 25 years as members of Trinity Bible Church where he proudly served as a Deacon.
Lyle also enjoyed and was an accomplished pan fisherman, small game and coon hunter, and loved Morel mushroom hunting in the spring. These skills were all passed down to him through the generations before him, and he enjoyed passing those same skills along to his family and friends.
He didn’t just enjoy doing these things, he was exceptional at them!
Lyle loved cutting, splitting and hauling wood and heated the family home with wood.
He also loved sports and for years and years could be seen and heard up in the stands in support of Marcellus teams.
Lyle knew no strangers, he loved to talk to people!
He was described as a “Corker” and was quite the Character! He had a great sense of humor and he had a heart for people.
He helped others purely out of the goodness of his heart. As he aged it was a great source of frustration to him to not be able to help others in the way that he had in the past.
Many people perhaps only saw the rough and eccentric side of Lyle. However, those closest to him knew he loved to write romantic poems to his wife and sentimental poems to his children. He loved writing short stories and poems and left behind binders full of them.
Family was the most important thing to Lyle, and he never tired of talking about his kids and grandkids.
Remaining to cherish his memory are his wife of 68 plus years Rosalie Mikel; two sons, Scott (Danielle) Mikel of Decatur; Correy (Dana) Mikel of Marcellus; two Daughters, Rebecca “Becky” Mikel of Union; and Kelly (Steve) Lewis of Marcellus; brother, Ronald Dean Mikel; sister, Wanda Jean Mikel; Nine grandchildren and Fourteen Great Grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his son-in-law Andrew; brothers Cleo, Bob, Gordie, and Richie; sisters, Francis; Iva and Wilda.
Arrangements for
Lyle C. Mikel:
Thursday November 21, 2024
3:00 Military Funeral Honors Ceremony and Burial of Remains:
Bly Cemetery
Marcellus Highway
1 mile East of Marcellus
4:00-5:00 Visitation:
Trinity Bible Church
397 Elm St.
Marcellus, MI 49067
5:00 Memorial Service:
Trinity Bible Church
Following completion of the service, a meal will be provided at the
Marcellus VFW
53550 M-40 South
Marcellus, MI 49067
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to: Trinity Bible Church. Envelopes will be available at the church and at Hohner Funeral Home.
