Michael C. McCall

Michael was raised in Castalia, Ohio by his parents, James and Ruth McCall. He was born December 10, 1948 and died March 4, 2026. He is survived by his sister, Judith Lococo, his wife of 49 years, June (Traub), children Kelli Davis (Tim), Cameron Adam McCall (Vinita) and Duncan James McCall; his grandchildren, Orion Michael McCall, Molly Davis and Mason Davis, and many beautiful nieces and nephews.

When people talk about Mike, they say he was a good guy. It was little things that made him a good guy. When he was two years old, he was struck with polio and spent a lot of time at Gates Memorial Hospital recovering and having surgery to repair his stricken muscles. While he was there, he would befriend his fellow polio patients. He talks about lying down under the young boy who was in an iron lung and showing him picture books. He read to the blind child and Mike gave his own Christmas present of a pirate ship to him, explaining all the parts and what they did. It was little things.

Mike loved anything that would get him somewhere fast and learned how to keep mechanical things running. His brother-in-law, Joe, would enlist his help with cars that needed help. Joe took the phone (back when phones had real long cords) to the garage doorway and Mike listened to the engine. Mike could diagnose a problem over the phone and walk Joe through how to fix it. It was the little things.

When managing apartments in Hawaii, he was always there for his tenants. He would fix an oven at 10 at night for the young mother who needed to bake a birthday cake for her 3-year-old or lend his car to the young man who needed a car that would pass inspection for his driver's test. One night, in response to frantic calls from neighbors for Mike, he ran out the door at 1 a.m., down three flights of stairs and then up three flights in the next building. The neighbor, Hanale, was having a fit. Somehow, Mike managed to keep this very large, strong Hawaiian man from jumping out of the fourth-floor window, pulling him back inside and staying with him until he calmed down and eventually fell asleep. We would now know Hanale suffered from PTSD, but back then it was just Hanale, who sheepishly came the next day to apologize to his manager, Mike, whom all the tenants knew had their backs. It was the little things that made Mike a good guy.

When Mike moved his family back to Ohio, he took a job as an over-the-road truck driver and, while he was on the road, suffered a brainstem stroke. He had a hard time recovering. The next move was to New Mexico where June took a teaching position. For a man that started working as a child, he did not like being unable to work so when June asked him to volunteer for an in-school tutoring program to assist readers, he jumped at the idea. He loved it, and the students loved him. He was then asked to substitute and finally ended up teaching students with multiple handicaps at the high school level. He was the first one at the school every morning to help get his wheelchair-bound students in the building and settle them in for the day. Everyone at the school knew him and for years he was a teacher students felt they could talk to. He loved teaching. Anytime he went anywhere students would make an effort to greet him. It was little things that impacted so many lives in positive ways.

Mike is known as a talker. His daughter-in-law says that he could make you feel better if you were feeling lonely just go sit by him and he would talk about whatever you wanted and make you feel seen and comfortable. While his nephew, Jay, acknowledges everyone knew he was a conversationalist, he also thinks of him as a driver. Whenever anyone needed to go anywhere, Mike was always willing to drive them even from New Mexico to Ohio. Little things made Mike a great guy.

Michael became a Baha'i and engaged in many aspects of his Baha'i community. From community treasurer to youth Ruhi teacher, he loved serving the faith. He lived by Baha'u'llah's guidance: "This is the Day whereon the Ocean of God's mercy hath been manifested unto men, the Day in which the Daystar of His loving-kindness hath shed its radiance upon them, the Day in which the clouds of His bountiful favor have overshadowed the whole of mankind. Now is the time to cheer and refresh the down-cast through the invigorating breeze of love and fellowship, and the living waters of friendliness and charity."

When Mike returned to Ohio and his health was preventing him from physically attending Baha'i activities, he maintained his connections with his dear Baha'i friends through weekly and sometimes daily phone conversations. Reaching out to others who, like him, were unable to travel to see him. Little things.

Mike had a Baha'i funeral with passages from the Baha'i scriptures and the Holy Bible. As the graveside service concluded, the sun broke through the fog and a bald eagle soared above the friends and family gathered to say farewell. A friend stated, "It is very clear, the eagle symbolizes the soul, which is now free and powerful, and the sun symbolizes the realm that has no darkness. It could not be more clear than that."