Michael Burnaugh

1943 - 2022

BURNAUGH, Michael Howard

Michael Howard Burnaugh of Marietta, Georgia, passed away on September 4, 2022, on what would have been his 57th wedding anniversary. Mike was born May 23, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, to Frank and Maxine Federle Burnaugh. He spent his early years in Harrison, Nebraska, starting school young as his mother was the teacher at the one-room schoolhouse. The family moved to Bakersfield, California, where Mike graduated from Bakersfield High School in 1960. He ran track and cross country, played the clarinet, and was an Eagle Scout. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1964 with a degree in political science. While at UCLA, he met Nancy Ackerman, and they married on September 4, 1965.

Mike served two tours of duty in Vietnam with the U.S. Marines as a field artillery officer. He was exposed to Agent Orange, which resulted in health problems later in life. He did not speak often of his service, but was writing a novel based on his experiences.

Mike earned an MBA from The University of Chicago in 1971, and began a career in sales that took his family to Indiana, Louisiana, Virginia, and finally to Georgia in 1982. He eventually turned his lifelong love of gardening into a business, "Jeeves the Gardener."

Mike and Nancy had three children, and he coached sports, drove carpool, and enthusiastically supervised homework. When his son Brian became a teacher, he volunteered in Cobb County schools, including one memorable performance as a singing whale in an elementary musical.

Mike had a fine tenor voice; he sang with the choirs of St. Catherine's Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, the Michael O'Neal Singers, and at numerous weddings. He was a gifted writer, and took poetry and memoir-writing classes in retirement. He loved his grandchildren dearly and took great pride in their accomplishments and adventures.

Mike was predeceased by his beloved wife Nancy, who died shortly after their 50th wedding anniversary. He is survived by children Rebecca Segrest (Victor), Brian Burnaugh, and David Burnaugh (Aimee); grandchildren Brandon and Ashtyn Burnaugh, sister Sheila Murphy (Dennis) and brother Neil Burnaugh (Debra). There will be a private service, with interment at the memorial garden at St. Catherine's Episcopal Church, Marietta, GA. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Good Mews Animal Foundation, www.goodmews.org.