Michael Hartley

Brooksville - Michael Robert Hartley unexpectedly passed away on September 29, 2023.

Mike was born in Elmhurst, IL but his early years were spent in Glen Ellyn.

Mike loved sports and was constantly playing backyard baseball, football and basketball with his brothers Steve and Ted. He played everything from football to basketball and baseball along with hockey and speed skating at Lake Ellyn. He was a wide receiver on the 1982 Glenbard West Hilltoppers football team and graduated from Glenbard in 1983. Mike attended Butler University where he played football for Butler and graduated in 1987 with a business degree in accounting.

At Butler Mike was a proud member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He was a scholarship wide receiver on the Bulldogs football team and was a member of Butler's Heartland Conference championship team. Mike loved Butler so much that he named his dog Hinkle, after legendary Butler coach Tony Hinkle.

After graduating from Butler, Mike accepted a position with Grant Thornton, an international public accounting firm. It was there that he met his future wife, Jenni Widholm. They were married in 1995 and had two daughters, Tiegan and Kaia. They lived in Chicago, Texas, and London. Visiting other countries and national parks was something they enjoyed doing as a family.

Mike loved his daughters with all his heart. He supported them in all their activities and especially their soccer journey from age 5 through high school. Mike wanted to coach his daughters and even went to soccer coaching school so that he would qualify as a coach. He loved going to Dad's and parents' weekends at the University of Illinois and the University of Colorado Boulder.

He was a lifelong Grateful Dead fan and always danced along on one foot to their music. Golf was another of his passions and he spent many hours with his golfing buddies. He was very supportive of his nieces and nephews in all their activities whether it be football, gymnastics, soccer, hockey and cheerleading or taking them tubing as he drove the boat around Lake Tippecanoe.

Survivors are daughters Tiegan and Kaia, former wife Jenni, parents Jerry and Becky Hartley, brothers Steve (Therese) Ted (Marci) and nieces and nephews, Zach, Dan, Pete, Tommy, Catie, Hannah and Jenna.

Visitation will be held from 10:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. on October 23rd at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 1145 Fifth Avenue, St. Charles, Illinois, and a Service of Christian Burial will follow at 11:00 A.M..

Donations may be made in Mike's honor to: CTE Research, Boston University Clinical Research in Neurodegenerative Disease.