Mike Stowers Funeral Expenses

My father, Michael Dean Stowers, passed away on Wednesday, April 13th, 2022. At the time of his passing, he did not have life insurance. No one would take him on due to him having multiple high-risk factors. He had several heart attacks, a stroke, a pacemaker, diabetes...the list goes on. The Stowers family is reaching out to our friends, family, and community to help us lay him to rest. We chose to cremate him as it was our best financial option. The cost of cremation was $1,735.00. This gofundme has been set up to $5,000.00 in the hopes that we can raise enough to get him a headstone as well. Any overage beyond those two costs will settle any outstanding debt he may have.

This is Andrew, Chona Gale's baby boy authoring this. Forgive me if this rambles on...I do not have the art of conversation that my father always had on display.

Growing up with my Mike Stowers as your dad was never easy. Everyone knew him, so a quick trip to the grocery store became a two-hour high school reunion. He often held court at the end of the checkout lines, where he would simultaneously talk to the owner, the bag boy, the checkout clerk and whoever was beside him in line. He loved people and understood them so well.

Dad couldn't cook. On one of the many summer nights when mom couldn't get off work, he was charged with being the chef. Mom had just placed us on a budget and told him no pizza. So he "made" me a grilled cheese sandwich and hot chocolate. In the middle of July. I told him he was supposed to put butter on the toast before he started, and he shouldn't turn the stove on for the hot chocolate until he put the milk in the pan. I was seven at the time, and those things seemed obvious. He hurried around the kitchen, not prepared for the next thing he needed. After the flurry of pots and pans banging together and the smoke alarm going off, he put my plate down in front of me.

Both were very burnt. We had pizza that night.

Dad was a kinesthetic learner. You could tell him four hundred times how to do something, but he had to do it himself. Some people (mom) would call him stubborn, but I think it is more of him being a tinkerer. He taught us to do things for ourselves, be fearless, regardless of the outcome, and figure things out as we go.

Most of my youth was spent growing up around cars. I have no memories of riding in my father's police cruiser, but there is a picture of me in the front seat. I do remember the orange wreckers that he used to patrol with. Tow trucks, flatbeds, fast cars, broken down cars, impossibly expensive cars, you name it and dad pulled it along Argillite Road at some point.

My most vivid memory was waking up around 4:30 a.m. one morning. The sky had opened at some point in the night and allowed for a nasty rainstorm. The noise that woke me up was a baby crying in our living room, not the storm. I snuck down the hall to find a woman drenched from head to toe. She was sobbing while holding a very cold and cranky newborn. It was not uncommon for our front door to be a revolving one. Dad would often give people a lift to our house if he felt he couldn't leave them where they were to await pickup safely.

My mom was in the kitchen, making coffee. The dryer dinged, and she grabbed its contents, two blankets, picked up her coffee mug and swiveled on her heel towards the living room. I watched as she handed the woman her coffee mug, asked for the baby and wrapped it in the warm blanket. Dad took the other blanket and draped it around the woman.

She began to tell them her story through a series of quick breathes and sobs. She had wrecked her car...husband hit her...she was scared for her baby's life...no where to go. Dad took out his wallet and gave her all the cash he had made that day. Mom encouraged the woman to take the money when the stranger said she couldn't. The woman finished her coffee, and dad walked her outside to get into the car he called for her. The next day, I would see that same car pull back into my driveway, and dad discretely paid the driver for his trip early that morning.

Dad was a pillar of our community, and we plan to continue his legacy of loving people, being fearless, and always being kind, especially when no one is watching.

Sincerely,

The Stowers

Johnda, Dean, Josh and Drew.