Michael Wanda Jr.

1942 - 2018

EASTON - Michael Wanda Jr. passed away July 5, 2017, at the age of 74 of cancer, in the Gilchrist Hospice Care Facility in Columbia, Md.
Born July 12, 1942, to parents Michael Wanda Sr. and Ruth E. Trevaskis Wanda. Michael grew up in Cumberland, Md., where he graduated from Fort Hill High School and later from the West Virginia University in Morgantown, W.Va.
In Cumberland, he became affiliated with the Red Cross and the Boy Scouts of America as an instructor of lifesaving and water safety aid. Michael went on to become a scuba diving instructor and, after affiliating with the Cambridge Power Squadron, a sailing instructor and boating safety instructor.
As a member of the U.S. Army, Michael served as a company commander in Fort Gordon, Ga.; a chemical special staff officer in Vietnam; chief of the visitor support division, troop assistant and an executive officer at Dugway, Utah; and the mobilization chemical materials officer in Rock Island, Ill., retiring from the U.S. Army Reserves with the rank of major.
Michael, was a member of the Easton community since 1977, when he joined the Dorchester County Health Department as a health inspector and was appointed by the state as their radiological officer. He later worked as administrative officer for the district court in Annapolis and then the Wicomico County Health Department as a health inspector until his retirement in 2006.
As a volunteer, Michael served as president of the Dorchester County Health Department's Chapter 55 Maryland Classified Employees Association; in the capacity of commander, administrative officer and secretary of the Cambridge Power Squadron; and vice president and secretary of the Tidewater Environmental Health Association.
However, Michael stated that the most rewarding experience of his life was assisting foreign work/study students visiting the United States to experience our culture and become more fluent in English. Due in great part to Michael's assistance, more than 200 visiting young people returned home with positive impressions of Americans as welcoming, considerate, helpful and humorous people. Michael will be remembered by all who knew him as putting people first in his life, and he was very much loved by his family and many friends.
Michael is survived by his sister, Gwendolyn Wanda; niece, Nicole Campbell, husband Stephen, and children, Danielle and Ryan; brother, Timothy Wanda, wife Debbie; niece Jennifer McCallister, husband Jeffry and children, Aiden, Kieran, Riley; nephew, Jason Wanda; step-nephew, Matthew Lucas, wife Renee and child Brianna; and step-niece, Melissa McBride, husband Eric.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in honor of Michael Wanda Jr. may be sent to Gilchrist Hospice Care Inc., 5537 Twin Knolls Road, Suite 434, Columbia, MD 21045.
Interment will take place at a later date at Hilcrest Memorial Park in Cumberland, Md.



This obituary was originally published in The Star Democrat.