Michael Loretz

Michael “Mike” Powell Loretz, of Austin, Arkansas, passed away April 12, 2023.  He was born in Beebe, Arkansas on August 10, 1947, to Jack and Johnnie Powell Loretz.  They moved quite a lot in his early years but ended up in Carlisle, Arkansas where he and his two brothers all graduated from Carlisle High School.  After he graduated in 1965, he joined the National Guard and was enrolled for six years.  Mike was the manager of the Auto Center at JC Penney in North Little Rock.  Mike started as an agent with Shelter Insurance Company in Bald Knob, Arkansas, then was an agent in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  Mike moved back to Carlisle along with his children, as he took the position of District Manager of District 8.  Mike retired in 1998.  He didn’t enjoy being retired and became stir crazy.  So, in 1998 he and his wife Barbara opened a café in downtown Lonoke, Arkansas named MeeMee’s Cool Café.  It was open a little over a year, when it was forced to close due to Barbara’s mother’s health decline and then passing. Michael then bought an eighteen-wheeler and worked for KC Matt for 14 years.  Of course, Mike being Mike, he still wasn’t ready to hang his hat up completely, so he drove a truck delivering frozen chicken for nine more years.  It was after then, he finally was ready to enjoy the good life and stop working.  In 2009 Mike and Barb moved from their home in Carlisle to Austin, Arkansas.  In 2004 they bought their first antique car, a 1937 Ford, then a 1977 Corvette, and his last car was a 1955 Fire Chief Command Car, in honor of Barbara’s dad, Bill Glover, who was a Fire Chief in Camden for many years.  They sold the last car in 2020 when Mike became sick.

Mike loved traveling, smoking meats in his smoker, frying catfish, and going to car shows with his buddies.  He loved spending time with their kids and grandkids and especially his beloved fur baby, Miss Kitty.

Michael is preceded in death by his mother, Johnnie Loretz, his father, Jack Loretz, his brother, Danny, and his daughter, Michelle Loretz. 

He is survived by his wife of 27½ years, Barbara Glover Loretz; two daughters, Melissa Keeney (Doug) of Searcy, Arkansas, and Melanie Reinert (Jeff) of Springfield, Missouri; son Kirk Loretz of Paragould, Arkansas; stepson Todd O’Keefe, of Austin, Arkansas, and stepdaughter Jenifer Spears (Ronnie), of Hot Springs, Arkansas; one brother, John Loretz (April) and sister-in-law, Sally Loretz; his two grandsons Landon Wilson and Evan Reinert; and four granddaughters, Lilly Spears, Katelynn, Aubreann and Ashlynn O’Keefe; and many nephews, nieces and cousins.  Mike was adored by numerous neighbors and friends that will miss him dearly.

Graveside Memorial Service will be 11:00 a.m. Monday, April 17, 2023, at Carlisle Cemetery.  Cremation arrangements by Smith Westbrook Funeral Home, 404 W Dewitt Henry Drive, Beebe, Arkansas 72012. To view the online registry, please visit www.smithfamilycares.com/westbrook