Michael Andrew Van Dam

1965 - 2016

Michael Van Dam beloved son, brother, uncle and friend died unexpectedly on October 20, 2016 in Los Angeles, CA. He will be sorely missed by those who knew and loved him. Mike was born on May 12, 1965 in Salt Lake City, UT to R. Paul and Lynne Palmer Van Dam. Michael is survived by his Mother, Lynne P. Van Dam, his Father, Paul Van Dam, his sister, Julie Van Dam, her husband Stephen Janke, his nephew, Carson Janke, Paul's partner Lisa Rutherford and many friends in Utah, California and elsewhere.

Mike was born kicking and hollering and he just never stopped his energetic ways. He was a rebel, full of energy and his own ideas. He loved the outdoors and hiked, often solo a good deal of southern Utah, Grand Canyon, the High Uintas, Yosemite and other areas of California, and did a hike from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Phoenix, Arizona by himself.

Mike was married just out of high school but his beloved, Tiffany Rutherford, passed away within two years from complications of diabetes. He never married again.

Mike was a musician playing both cello and guitar. He was an accomplished carpenter and home builder and helped build Ancestor Square in St. George, Utah. He joined his father on many long sailing adventures and was a skilled sailor. His ability to understand and fix most anything was amazing. He was fiercely independent.

Mike spent time at the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles, California as a gardener and worked toward becoming a monk which did not materialize but which brought him lasting friendships and a deeply spiritual nature. Mike had great ability to love but people often disappointed him, and his spiritual nature helped him to understand, not necessarily accept, human frailties and to balance his fiercely independent nature. His study of Yogananda inspired him to travel to India where he visited the spiritual places he had read about.

Although he did not graduate from East High School in Salt Lake City, he later earned his GED and then at age forty-four, following his New Mexico to Arizona trek, reminded his dad that he had offered to finance his college education. With Mike's help, his dad's catamaran in the Caribbean was sold and Mike, at age forty-five, embarked with limited funds to attend first Santa Monica Community College, then U.C. Irvine. He graduated in 2015 with a 3.9 GPA in Greek and Latin and honors including Phi Beta Kappa and was studying to take the law school entry test when he unexpectedly died. His intent was to represent indigent people and environmental organizations.

Our family wants to recognize the family that Mike was living with in Los Angeles. They are loving, giving people who accepted Mike into their family group and were with him at the time of his death. The Raymundo family was Mike's family, nearly as much as his own birth family. We are much in their debt.

We mourn his passing but hope he has a new grand adventure ahead.

A memorial service to celebrate Michael's life will be held November 19, 2016, from 10am to 1pm at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Salt Lake City at 569 S 1300 E, Salt Lake City, Utah.

In honor of Mike, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Mercy for Animals (http://www.mercyforanimals.org/).