Michael Andrew Heonis

With heavy hearts the family of Michael Andrew Heonis, announce his passing on the evening of October 24th. Born in Wilmington, Delaware; the second child to Gus and Mary Etta Heonis on July 7th, 1945. He spent his childhood here in Raleigh and would later venture to Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana,Texas as well as Costa Rica and Bogota. Ralph Waldo Emerson said "It is not the length of life, but the depth." and my father had both. Traveling in the last year of his life with his daughter and granddaughter to take a long awaited trip on the historic 4501 steam locomotive in Chattanooga; that sadly would be his last adventure. He was a pioneer in the age of automotive customization and detailing; where he became known as "Mike the Greek" with his famous Greek horse, a fully custom 1967 Mustang Fastback that took several awards. Later as custom car demand waned, he spent decades in the physically demanding automotive body repair until his retirement. Never one to sit still, he took his life long love of trains and focused solely on HO scale model trains and created East Coast Railroads where he would produce several custom cabooses, freight and hopper cars and later taking his skills into producing HO scale laser wood kits; creating famous NC railroad landmarks such as the now destroyed Boylan Tower. A great father and friend, a fantastic grandfather; he is preceded in death by his parents, and his brother, Jimmy. He is survived by his daughter, Anastasia Michele Alexandra and granddaughter, Thalia Scarlett Tempest; countless friends and train enthusiasts. Please be aware that my father was a notorious prankster, and loved jump scares. Let's all hope for one final prank.