Michael Ryan Dunlop

Mike was born in Dubuque Iowa, on a cold day in February 1975 to Wayne and Jackie Dunlop, becoming the little brother of Marc. The family moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas to help with a family business when he was three. Living near extended family made for many happy times. He attended the church school and loved to bring home the things he learned at school. Mike also attended Ozark Adventist Academy in Gentry, Arkansas where he had many friends and lived in the dorm. He loved his time there and appreciated that he had learned how to become independent. Many of his classmates have kept in touch and became lifelong friends. Many have shared stories to tell of things that happened at boarding school. He graduated in 1993. Some of Mike’s many interests came from working with Grandpa Reuben Krein who was an inventor and had many patents for his designs. Grandpa would design and build many custom machines in the shop and Mike would work closely with him and pick up on how they were built and how they operated. He enjoyed working with grandpa and seemed to have that same spark of critical thinking. One of his close friends shared his thoughts about Mike: Some of the best times of my life were with and because of you. Words are insufficient to express the quality of your character and the way you made people feel when around you. While the ones who knew you, knew that some of the things you said were a little off the wall, your words were always delivered with such conviction and determination that to second guess you was not really an option. You have something about you that makes people want to listen and be around you, with eager ears and eyes, waiting for the next goofy thing you were going to say or do. I don’t know where your ideas and perceptions came from, but they were undoubtedly your own and always expressed in such a profound manner that made everyone notice and think “this guy is different from anyone I’ve ever met, I like him. I can’t wait to hear more.” I don’t think I have to tell anyone what a kind, open and giving person you are. You always seemed to have an attitude of “what’s mine is yours” and you always wanted to share experiences and anything that you have had the opportunity to experience yourself. For you, experiences, connections, projects and adventure were the fruit of life. Learning something and sharing it with a friend is what makes you happy. You Sir are a true example of a great friend. No matter how much time or distance had separated us, nothing ever changed between us. Mike went on to study at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He studied Business and graduated with a degree in marketing in 1997. He worked in Fayetteville for a time at retail sales and then moved up to Louisville to find work and be near family. He got a job welding at Jeffboat and after a winter working outside he moved on to designing air ducting systems for Allied Technologies. He later got a sales job with Sysco where he sold food products to restaurants. He enjoyed the fact that he was working at something he studied for in college and enjoyed meeting new people and working with computers. He made many lasting friendships at Sysco and had lots of stories of experiences in the food industry. He won many awards while at Sysco and had a good group of loyal customers. As the economy slowed down and layoffs started to come about he could not get new customers at Sysco and was layed off. One of his co-workers referred to Mike as a brother to him, and to many others. Mike helped him land some of his accounts.Mike took a job with Tyler Mountain water company. It was rather ironic that he had delivered water to the radiation department at the Brown cancer center. He had many hobbies, from snow skiing to working on old cars with his dad. He helped his dad on many car projects over the years. In academy he rebuilt the engine on a 67 Chevelle. He enjoyed painting old furniture and would make them into pieces of art. Mike met Havanna Burkhammer after a chance meeting with her mother, Vickie, at a mutual friends wedding. They found that they had much in common and have shared a life together for almost ten years. Mike had come to love her daughter Destiny as his own. He is one of those special men that may not be a father, but is a special Dad. In 2010, Mike and Havanna went on a special month long trip. As a child he loved to travel with his family. He had wanted to go from one coast to the other and he loved the national parks and wanted to see Yosemite again. They had quite an adventure and made many wonderful memories. In Mike’s short life it was about quality not quantity. The world is a little bit darker without him in it. Rest well. . . Michael. Memorial contributions may be made to National Parks Association in his name, at www.npca.org

Michael Ryan Dunlop

February 7, 1975 - May 13, 2015

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Michael Ryan Dunlop

February 7, 1975 - May 13, 2015

COVID-19

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Grief & Healing

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365 Days of Grief Support