Drew Porter

Drew Victor Porter, 37, of Bellaire, passed away on Monday, December 23, 2024, at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City. He was born on December 16, 1987, in Thousand Oaks, CA, the son of Melvin and Elaine (Rogers) Porter.

Drew graduated from Bellaire High School in 2006 and went on to graduate from Ferris State University in 2011. While attending a Society of Automotive Engineers conference, he was recruited by Cummins Inc., and Drew relocated to Columbus, Indiana. He enjoyed a successful career with Cummins, but he missed and loved Michigan, so he returned home to Bellaire in 2022.

Drew was a multi-talented young man with many interests; he enjoyed listening to a wide variety of music, snowboarding, working on cars, taking care of his dogs, attending trivia nights, beach combing for Petoskey Stones, and the list goes on…

Drew grew up going to Trout Lake in Canada to fish with his Grandpa Rogers, his dad, and his uncles (Mike, Craig, Terry, Rick, and John). It became a tradition that he loved and eventually led him to purchase a cabin there. The trip to get to the lake was always an adventure, but once they arrived it was eat, sleep, and fish! (there may have been some beer drinking mixed in there too) Many good times were had, memories were made, and trout were fried.

Drew loved his music. His interests went from heavy metal (Pantera was a favorite), to rock (AC/DC, Tool, Bob Seger), to country (Dwight Yoakam, Brooks & Dunn, Randy Travis), he listened to it all. Music was always blasting when he was working on his cars and truck, boating, mowing the lawn, and while driving.

He will be dearly missed by his two black labs, Vinny and Dime. He went to the Antrim County Animal Shelter to adopt a dog and came home with two. They came to the shelter together and they didn’t want to separate them. He never hesitated to adopt both. They loved Drew, and were always with him on his rock hunting trips at the beach.

One of Drew’s favorite movies was Smokey and the Bandit, and he loved the Trans Am that Burt Reynolds drove. He purchased and refurbished a 1976 Trans Am when he was sixteen. He drove it from Georgia to Michigan where he had moved during his high school years – he simply loved driving that car. He enjoyed going to car shows and even showed his 1977 Lincoln Continental at a few of them. 

He also loved to cook and was fantastic at it. No recipes needed, he just had the ability to know which foods and spices went together. His girlfriends loved having a guy that could cook!

Drew is survived by his mom, Elaine Porter; his uncle Tom; his aunts, Sue, Chris, Bernie, Kathy, Ann, Brenda, Mo, and Maryann; cousins Kandi (Tom) McAnnally, Mike (Diane) Rogers, Bill (Heather) Linseman, John (Tasha) Rogers, Nicole (Steve) Addington, Kelly Rogers, Rick (Samantha) Rogers, and Justin Madaras. Drew was very close to and spent many great times with his cousins becoming a special uncle to their kids; Olivia, Lilly, Zander, Mia and Izzy, who adored him and cherished any time spent with him.

He was preceded in death by his dad, Mel Porter; his grandparents, Will and Doreen Rogers, and Mel and Martha Porter; his great-grandmother, Rosella, who he referred to as Grandma Coogan; his uncle Mike; and his cousins Jean Paul, and Erica & her son Jasper.

Services are being planned for a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Antrim County Animal Shelter, PO Box 568, Bellaire, MI 49615.

Arrangements are in the care of the Bellaire Chapel of Mortensen Funeral Homes. Please sign his online guestbook at www.mortensenfuneralhomes.com