Michael J. Michaelson

Michael Michaelson, son of the late Charles and Jean Budas of Forest Park, passed away on Wed., August 13th, 2025. He was married to the former, late, Verna White of Chicago. He is survived by his beloved son, Joshua (Bianca), 4 siblings, Thomas Budas (Mona), Mary Ellen Budas, Steven Budas (Gail), Cecilia Wilds (late Michael), 5 nephews and nieces , and 9 great nephews and nieces. He was the fond nephew of Stella Janucevic (late Adolph) and dear cousin to Paul Janucevic (Carol) and 2nd cousin to Aaron Sosin. The majority of his life was spent in janitorial or maintenance positions throughout the Chicago, Aurora and Waukegan areas. Locally he worked at West Suburban, Oak Park Rush and Riveredge Hospitals. A few years he worked in Vancouver, WA ,at Fort Vancouver Nat'l Historic Site , digging up artifacts. He did temporary work at Chicago Bulk Mail Center in Forest Park. In his later years , he worked for Living Word Christian Center in the moving ministry, in it's early beginnings, on Madison St. and in its current location in Forest Park Mall. He was also involved in the Intercession Ministry at Living Word. He retired after 14 yrs working in gardening, maintenance, and electronics, sales at Walmart in Forest Park.

His passions were people and studying the bible! Michael had a warm, engaging personality and was very social and outgoing. He made many friends over the years with his church affiliations and later in his retirement at Mills Park Tower in Oak Park. He enjoyed photography, dancing, movies, and playing Bingo! He just loved hanging out with people! If a need came up, he was quick to say a prayer.

During his Walmart days, Michael took classes at a church in Chicago and earned his pastoral license. He was an avid bible reader and taught himself Hebrew. In his early days he traveled to conferences and retreats.

While residing at Mills Park Tower, he became involved with several Prayer Ministries over the phone: Watchman On The Wall, National Day of Prayer, Intercessors For America and Intercessors for Israel. He supported several Ministries in Prayer and Donations: Jewish Voice Ministry Int'l, Bill Winston Ministries, Kenneth Copeland Ministries and Jan Markell with Olive Tree Views.

If you would like to make a donation , give to Jewish Voice Ministry Int'l, P.O. Box 31998, Phoenix, AZ 85046-1998, Phone: 1-800-306-0157 or jewishvoice.org.