High cotton indeed
There are times when you are confronted with the reality that there are eminently accomplished friends and neighbors right under your nose. Just everyday folk from Middle America, those who capitalized on the American way, underscored the work ethic and rose to the top in their profession which brought about a better life for them and their families.
With hard-earned success, they became rich in experiences, enjoying memorable moments that made life fun, fascinating and fulfilling. Mike Cheek is a Damn Good Dawg who has experienced a damn good business career. The upward mobility of his life’s journey would bring pause to any career narrator.
His very beginning is intriguing and absorbing. He was born in Grantham, England, the birthplace of Sir Isaac Newton and Maggie Thatcher.
His mother was a war bride who had to leave her family and her homeland and travel across an ocean on stormy seas, on a crowded ship which offered nothing redeeming other than it would float. He often thought of the tender loving care his mother gave him on that difficult nine-day voyage, especially when he later would fly first class to the United Kingdom.
Mike’s father, Verdon, was a soldier in the U. S. Army and had to travel ahead without them in order to be mustered out of the military service following the war.
Mike was 18 months old when he and his mother, Florence, boarded the SS Argentina in Southampton, England, along with 455 other wives and 169 babies, bound for New York harbor in January 1946. The ship became a bastion of seasickness, which overwhelmed Mike’s mother. The ship docked in New York, where they were processed through immigration at Ellis Island. Next they took a train south — destination Winder, Georgia.
Naturally, Mike has no recollection of the voyage and has no idea how he and his mother were directed through Ellis Island, finding their way to Penn Station for the 20- plus hour train ride to Winder. He regrets now that he did not glean more detail about the experience before his mother passed away.
Mike’s picture, with his mother handing him over to a proud father, appeared on the front page of the Atlanta papers. It featured a screaming babe- in- arms. He reminded himself of his inauspicious arrival years later when he and his son- in- law, Tom Johnson, opened a Wendy’s restaurant across U. S. 29 in downtown Winder.
His new life began in Warner Robins. Albany was the next address and then the family settled in Macon where he would be graduated, with honors, from Willingham High School.
It was a journey through austerity for the most part. His father was a butcher who never made more than a $ 100 a week. There were no frills or perks for Mike when he grew up.
However, he was about odd jobs, earning spending money, sports and scholarship. His parents appreciated high marks, but Mike expected more of himself than to simply make passable grades.
His exposure to a familiar personality in high school coaching circles, Billy Henderson, brought about inspiration for him. “Coach Henderson made us all feel that we could succeed if we believed in ourselves and worked harder than the next guy,” Mike recalls appreciatively.
With an abiding love of golf, Mike used this enterprising game to complement his sales and marketing skills with consequential side benefits. He has played many of the leading golf courses in the world while serving as general sales manager (Southeast) for the Carnation Co., senior VP of marketing for Coca- Cola, president of Heublein Wines, president of North American Spirits Group, president of Brown-foreman Global Spirits. He remains chairman of Finlandia Vodka Worldwide.
For the Kentucky Derby in 2000, George W. Bush — headed to the White House — and his father, George Herbert Walker Bush, were the guests of friends of Mike and Brown-forman. High cotton, indeed. Until he retired earlier this year, Mike flew to Sydney, Australia, once a quarter for board meetings.
Other than his wife, Runell, and his family, the lion’s share of his interests today are focused on the University of Georgia and the Bulldogs. He has been a generous supporter of his alma mater. He holds especial affection for the job Kirby Smart is doing. “I can tell you,” Mike says, “Kirby has the right stuff to have been a super successful business executive.”
Something that turns Mike on today, as he reflects on his past, is when “The Star- Spangled Banner” and the UGA alma mater are played pregame. “I have learned to appreciate both of them deeply,” he says.