MICHAEL P. VOOLICH

1943 - 2019

VOOLICH, Michael P. Michael "Mike" Voolich or "Mikol" to his wife, Erica. Longtime resident of Somerville, MA passed away peacefully following a brief illness on May 26, 2019 at the age of 75. He was surrounded his family and drew his last breaths as he lived, snoring with his feet up in front of the Red Sox game. Mike was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, to Donna (Domina Bozanich) and Sam Voolich, with sister, Sandra and brother Peter. He grew up in a family of salmon fishermen, working on fishing boats between Seattle and Alaska. As a young man he dreamed of being a philosopher and made his way to Boston via Santa Clara University and then Washington University in Saint Louis where he met his beloved wife, Erica. He began his teaching career when he was studying Philosophy at Boston College. But soon his interests wandered to woodworking and he became a woodshop teacher in Arlington, Brookline, then moving to Salem High School and eventually to Norwood High School. As the world changed so did Mike's career, his final teaching jobs were as a Computer Aided Design, and then American History teacher in the Boston Public Schools. He had a penchant for building practically anything: building furniture, obtaining a builder's license, remodeling his own house and supervising the construction of a home for a friend. He was a devoted father to Cheryl, Sam and wife Gretchen, and Johanna and husband Caleb. He volunteered as a Little League and Babe Ruth baseball coach in Somerville, MA, and sometimes drove for hours to ensure he attended every basketball game his kids ever played in. Over time he had the good fortune to become a devoted grandfather to Matt and wife Britany, Leo, and Lucy, and great-grandfather to Vanessa and Sophia. In Mike's later years, he sought out his extended family in Croatia, discovering he was able to speak the language that had been spoken around him in his home growing up. He was able to connect family members in Chile and Croatia. In many ways Mike was larger than life. Beyond his very large stature, he had a large presence in every room, curious about the world, questioning everything, and also wanting to tell everyone about everything, always having a unique approach to life and a desire to help others. Visiting Hours will be held Friday, May 31 at Keefe Funeral Home, 2175 Massachusetts Ave., NORTH CAMBRIDGE, 4-7PM. Service will be held Saturday at the funeral home at 11am. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are to be made to Somerville Math Fund (www.somervillemathematicsfund.org).