Michael McGuire Abernathy, 66, of Orlando, Fla., died Sunday, July 15, 2012, at Orlando. Mike was born Aug. 29, 1945, at Fort Myers, Fla., and was the eldest of the three children of Arthur Briggs Abernathy, Jr. and Louise C. McGuire Abernathy. Mike’s dad was serving in the military and a few months after Mike’s birth, the family relocated to another duty assignment beginning Mike’s opportunity to live in locations throughout the United States and overseas. Mike particularly enjoyed living in Arizona, where his next door neighbor spent endless hours introducing him to fast cars, woodworking and the ability to fix anything mechanical. Between the neighbor and his uncle, Marvin McGuire, who gave him his first ride on a motorcycle, they ignited interests that Mike enjoyed throughout his life.
Mike graduated from high school in Germany. Years ago Mike learned of the Bitburg Alumni Association and thereafter kept in touch with his high school friends as well as attended alumni reunions throughout the country. After high school, Mike moved to Wichita for his dad’s last duty assignment at McConnell Airforce base. He attended college at Wichita State and also completed drafting school. Mike enlisted in the United States Navy serving in Viet Nam. After receiving an honorable discharge, he moved back to Wichita where he worked as a draftsman and also had his own cabinet and woodworking shop. Mike was very involved in the Sports Car Club of America while in Wichita and rode motorcycles in various groups and with numerous fellow cyclists.
In 1989, Mike moved to Florida to marry Nancy J. Fursman Abernathy and they lived in Orlando after their marriage. He continued with jobs in the woodworking and cabinet making field until opening his own shop. The workmanship of his furniture and cabinet making was exquisite. Much of his work was completed for homes of celebrities and entertainers, professionals in the medical and legal fields and professional athletes. A client could describe a vision of a project while he sketched details resulting in a complete drawing Mike would then create into a work of art in wood. Mike was also skilled with Auto-Cad and other computer programs which assisted in his projects. Often Mike would develop a particular type of wood turning or other specialty item to make a project unique with the commitment to the client it would never be repeated in any other client’s project.
In 2006, Mike closed his shop due to health issues but continued to advise, consult and work part time as long as he was able. His enthusiasm for cars and motorcycles continued and he enjoyed attending rallies and events with his friends. Mike had founded several motorcycle clubs in Orlando. He also participated with a group which meets every Thursday night for conversation and dinner referring to the guys who attend as some of the best people he had ever met.
Mike’s additional interests included metal turning, music and gardening and he was a voracious reader. He was a man of intelligence, wit and compassion. He always enjoyed being a pet owner from the time he had his beloved dog Josie through the series of rescued cats that came to live with him and Nancy with the current feline king of the house known as Reynaldo.
In addition to his wife, Nancy, Mike is survived by his mother and brother, Pete Abernathy, and Pete’s wife, Holly, all of Cincinnati, Ohio; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law Susan and Don Diebolt, Iola, John A. Fursman, III, Garnett, and Roxanne and Charles Dawson, Great Bend; father-in-law, John A. Fursman, Jr., Colony; and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews; and two great-great-nieces. His father and his sister Deany Rief are deceased.
If you wish to remember Mike with a memorial tribute, please donate to the charity of your choice or to a cause in which you believe. Mike believed in organ donation and as his final act of kindness provided the gift of sight to two individuals by donation of his corneas to the Lions Eye Institute for Transplant and Research, 1410 N. 21st Street, Tampa, FL 33605, telephone 813-289-1200.
A graveside service will be at the Colony Cemetery in Colony, on Saturday, July 21, 2012, at 2 p.m. with burial in the Fursman family section of the Cemetery. Military honors will be conducted by Moran American Legion. Services are under the direction of Waugh-Yokum and Friskel Memorial Chapels of Iola, telephone 620-365-2948. In accordance with Mike’s wishes, a celebration of his well-lived life will be held in Orlando at a later date.
Online condolences for the family may be left at www.iolafuneral.com.