Date of Birth:
Friday, July 30, 1943
Date of Death:
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Age:
67 years old

Michael J. Podulke

Podulke, Michael Joseph

July 30, 1943 – February 23, 2011

Michael is survived by his loving wife and best friend, Stephanie June; daughters Heather Marie (Daniel Simmer and Ursula Simmer); Laurel Elizabeth Podulke (fiancée  Edward Martin Jeffries, Edison Allen and  Elissa Ann Jeffries); siblings Peter (Georgiana) Podulke, Lawrence (Catherine) Lambert, Mark Owen Lambert, Judith Marie (Stephan) Fischer, Roger Eliot (Cynthia) Lambert, Robert Alan (Lynn) Lambert, Stephen (Judy) Podulke, Olga Marie (Ted) Landaal; and many loving nieces and nephews.

He was born to Elizabeth and Michael Podulke in Minneapolis, MN.  Michael graduated from Wilson High School in 1961 where he enjoyed playing football, shot-putting, pole-vaulting, playing basketball and throwing discus.

He served in the US Navy from 1961 -1964 . He was trained in electronics and radar detection and served in the underwater radar detection unit. After the Navy he worked at Control Data Corporation for 12 years.

In 1965 he married the love of his life, Stephanie June Crow.  They lived in New Hampshire for 3 years, moved to Italy for two years, and then the Netherlands for two years where Heather was born.  He worked with and studied stained glass there. In 1976 they moved to Rochester and opened Rochester Stained Glass.

Mike ran for and was elected to be a County Commissioner in 1986 and subsequently was re-elected to that position 6 times. On the County Board, he was known as a strong advocate for vulnerable and disadvantaged children and citizens.  In addition to his service to the community, Mike enjoyed many other crafts, including blacksmithing, book-binding, wood-carving, glass-blowing, weaving, spinning, whittling, flint knapping and paper- making. He was a wizard at Scrabble, chess, bridge, poker, board games and any kind of brainteaser.  When Michael was in an especially good mood, he turned thoughts into songs.  One of Mike’s hobbies was whittling little gnomish figures which he would leave in places all over the US and Europe, hoping that children would find them and think they were magical.  He did this for over 20 years.  Michael was a lifelong recycler and repurposer. He was curious about everything, and he read voraciously.  Michael wrote, designed, made the paper for, printed and self-published a book, Life in the F.A.S.T. Lane: the Ramblings of an Adult Survivor of A.D.D. and Other Misnomers.

He enjoyed organizing colorful, outrageous events such as Boar’s Head Feast, full size maypoles, the Mayo Civic Center Opening Ceremonies with the balloon launch,  Winter Festival Outdoor Scrabble Tournament, and served as a consultant on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”

Mike and Stephanie had a vision of how to help the community heal from the raw emotions of 9/11. They translated that into a design and a community project for a beautiful set of stained glass panels at the Rochester Civic Center in memory of the victims of 9/11. The labor involved in building it included over 500 volunteers from the Rochester area.   Mike and Stephanie’s stained glass creations are installed in numerous Rochester and Byron churches.

Michael was a member of Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Fraternity.  Among the many honors he received were:  Committee on Urban Design and Environment; Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau Hometown Hero Award, Mayor’s Award for Community Service, Cambodian American Friendship Award,  Zumbro Valley Medical Society Public Service Award and the , Mayor’s Legacy Award.

Some of his friends referred to him as rustic philosopher, and his family remember him as “Big Joe.”

A Memorial Service will be held in the new River Park Chapel at Macken Funeral Home on Monday, February 28 at 6 pm with Rev. Dr. Carol Hepokoski officiating.  Visitation preceding the service from 3:00 to 6:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers the family prefers memorials to either The Unitarian Universalist Church Boiler Fund, 1727 Walden Lane SW, Rochester, MN or Olmsted County Crisis Nursery, 126 Woodlake Drive SE, Rochester, MN, 55904.

On-line condolences are welcome at www.mackenfuneralhome.com.