Retired Lieutenant Colonel Owen Michels

Owen A Michels (Skip), 93, passed away peacefully at his home in Tallahassee on November 2, 2025.
Skip was born on January 5th, 1932, to Anthony Michels and Mary VanHulle in Detroit, Michigan.
After completing high school, he enlisted in the US Air Force as an aircraft mechanic. One day during basic training an officer walked into their class and asked for volunteers for flight school. The Korean War was winding down but had taken its toll on pilots.
Skip completed flight training in 1954, Class 54-G. His first duty assignment was piloting the KC-97 in-flight refueling aircraft for the Strategic Air Command.
Subsequent duty assignments placed him in the C130 Hercules and the C141A Starlifter for the Military Airlift Command. Skip retired after his tour at Bien Hoa airbase in Vietnam.
After retiring from the Air Force, Skip moved into sales of commercial equipment and services for woodworking, cabinet, furniture and sporting goods industries.
He is survived by a sister, Caroline McGinnis (Michels); son, Alan Michels; daughter, Krysti Michels and four grandchildren, Taylor, Bruce, Brice and Joshua Bales, plus two great granddaughters, Raylah and Renae Bales.
He is preceded in death by his brother, Norm Michels, his eldest son, Anthony Michels and his former wives, Wilma Louise Kendall and Susan Diane Wielinski.