MICHAEL ‘MIKE’ ALAN SLATES
Sept. 9, 1960 – Nov. 27, 2022
After battling multiple illnesses for many years, Mike passed peacefully in Bishop, CA at the age of 62.
Born in Ridgecrest to Richard and Barbara Slates, Mike grew up roaming the desert, a nascent expression of his lifelong love of the outdoors. He and friends were often to be found at large exploring the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station, where his parents were employed as scientists and where his family lived in his younger years. When Mike was six, his father, an early member of China Lake Mountain Rescue Group, died on a mountain rescue attempt and that loss profoundly influenced Mike’s life. Several CLMRG members took him under their collective wing and ensured the young boy had plenty of opportunities to spend time climbing, hiking, camping and skiing in the Sierra Nevada wilderness.
The oldest of four siblings, as he grew up he took on more care of the younger children, providing a stable model of responsibility while their mother worked full time to provide for her family. In adolescence, Mike was active in school athletics and was a talented member of the track team. He developed an interest in role playing games and formed a strong group of lifelong friends through them. The imagination involved in bringing “other worlds” to life remained a lasting creative outlet and pastime for him.
After graduating from Burroughs High School, Mike attended UC Santa Barbara, majoring in Geology. He grew to love living by the ocean and relished any opportunity to return to it in later years. During college, he spent time in the geologically rich nwens Valley and Eastern Sierra, both on educational field trips and participating in field research in the area. He also visited recreationally to climb, hike, camp and ski. After a brief post-graduate stint as a substitute teacher, he relocated to Bishop and began his career at Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District, from which he retired in 2OP8. He was proud of his contribution to their important work. Here, too, longtime connections and friendships were forged.
It was through one of these connections that Mike was asked to serve on the Board of I.C.A.R.E., the local companion animal advocacy group. He was an active member since almost the inception of the group and played a key role for many years. At a group meeting, he met his future wife, Lynne. They hit it off almost immediately and shared their lives for 23 years, companionably enjoying their home, Bishop and their community of local friends, books, desert adventures, rockhounding, hiking and camping in the mountains, and traveling throughout the Western U.S., always accompanied by their beloved dogs. Mike was a proud agility teammate of his dear collie, Sage, joining the local agility club, attending trials, and even competing at national championships in 2OP6. Mike was always a strong supporter of Lynne and her passion project of the local bookstore and provided assistance of all kinds behind the scenes over the years.
Even more than the minutia and details of a life lived, the impressions one leaves behind are of importance. Friends and family will always remember Mike as kind and accepting, and truly interested in others. He was genuinely engaged in the lives of his friends and delighted in conversations that while perhaps serious and “deep” also allowed him to express his quirky sense of humor and share some laughter. While not being one to place himself in the spotlight, he never hesitated to champion what he believed was right and speak up for those who had been wronged or disadvantaged.
Mike is survived by his wife, Lynne; four-legged family members Sage, Willow, Calvin and Cedar; sister Jenn Dale who has nothing but good memories (niece Dez Dale and grand-niece A’Niah Dale); brother Christopher Slates (Vania Maldonado; niece and nephew Sierra and Javier Maldonado who remember Mike as a kind and gracious uncle); and sister Pamela Slates. Also surviving him are numerous brothersand sisters-in-law, and their children and grandchildren.
A memorial Celebration of Life is to be scheduled for January 2O23; please contact Lynne Almeida for details. In lieu of cards or flowers, please consider a donation to I.C.A.R.E., whose mission was so important to Mike: www.icareforpets.org.