Michael Van Ayers

OCEAN PARK — Michael Van Ayers, 73, of Ocean Park passed away March 11 in Longview after a brief illness.

A native Texan, Michael was born in Brady, the geographical heart of Texas, on Oct. 21, 1950. He graduated from Mineral Wells High School in 1969 and from East Texas State University with bachelor’s and master’s degress in biology and chemistry in 1974.

A peninsula resident for the last 12 years, Michael retired here after 30 years of federal service that included assignments as Park Manager of Grapevine Lake in Texas for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and as the State Outdoor Recreation Planner for the Bureau of Land Management in California.

While based in California, Michael spent three years building his retirement home on the peninsula. Russ and Cheri Lewis of Ocean Park provided their former colleague with a local base from which he spent long weekends and vacations from work building the house. Chief among the colleagues and friends who aided him are Russ Lewis, Mike Steele of Leavenworth, Washington, Mark Harris of Fort George, Utah, and Kevan Meehan of Dallas. Once completed, the craftsman-style house was a home at the beach for friends and family.

Although he was a lifelong Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers fan, Michael had many additional interests that sustained him and gave him joy including travel, gardening, photography, golf and good eats. Throughout his life, Michael enjoyed visiting National Parks and Disneyland, playing golf, attending concerts and movies, taking road trips and cruises, and just puttering. His cats loved him. And his friends counted on him to take the group shot or to create a photo album after every gathering, outing or trip. Michael knew he had the best friends.

He is survived by his wife, Donna; brother Ronnie and family in Spring, Texas; brother-in-law Mark Ferguson and family in California; and many treasured friends and former colleagues scattered over Washington, California, Utah and Texas including Doug Sims in Paris, Texas; Denise Bartlett in Elk Grove, California; and the Butler, Lybrand, Meehan, Sims and Tijerina families in Texas.