What Remembrance Day Means to Me

After completing an undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo and an MBA at McMaster University, Mike spent 32 years with the Canadian Armed Forces and RCAF as a Finance Officer. His postings took him across Canada, and three times to Europe. Canadian postings included a radar base at CFS Sydney, an Army base at Shilo, Manitoba, a CF-18 base at Cold Lake, Alberta, and in Ontario he served at CFB Borden and three times at NDHQ Ottawa.

His first European tour was a 6-month operational tour in Bosnia that would prove to be very enlightening and rewarding. Years later, he was posted with his family to SHAPE, a NATO HQ located in Mons, Belgium, where he very much enjoyed working in an international environment. A few years later, he returned to Europe this time to a different NATO HQ, one situated in Brunssum, Netherlands. Given that its primary role at the time was supporting NATO operations in Afghanistan, Mike made three brief working visits to Afghanistan.

Early in his career, Mike earned the professional designation, Certified Management Accountant, now known as CPA. During his military career, he took many courses financial and otherwise the most significant of which was the 9-month-long Master's-level Command and Staff Course at Canadian Forces College located in Toronto.  

Over the course of his career, Mike was awarded the Canadian Forces Decoration, the NATO Medal for Former Yugoslavia, General Campaign Star (South-West Asia), Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal, Special Service Medal (NATO), and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, as well as two Commander’s Commendations.

Midway through his career, Mike got actively involved with Rotary. With so many postings, he is now with his fifth Rotary club. Along the way, he served as Secretary, Club Treasurer three times, Club President, Area Governor, and District Treasurer. He is a Paul Harris Fellow many times over and was recently recognized as a Major Donor to The Rotary Foundation.

Mike has been married to Vicki for 43 years. Their 34-year-old son, Brandon, lives nearby in Calgary with his wife Ashley and her 13-year-old daughter, Sophia.