MARSHALL, Michael E. Age 63. died suddenly October 2, 2016.

A resident of Farmington Hills, Michigan and Maui, Hawaii. Devoted son of Kenneth (the late Mary) Marshall. Beloved husband of Mercedes (nee Pali, "Mercy"), loving father of Donovan Eleo, Kenneth Keala, and Elliott Kapono (Amy) Marshall. Cherished Brother of Dr. Susan (Patrick) Hayes, Sandra "Sam", Steve, Nancy (the late Roy) Williams, John, Mary Kay (Matthew) Stelling, Lizzie (the late Joseph) Aupuck, Edmund (Mapu) Pali, Eric (Helene) Pali, Priscilla (the late Nick) Agdeppa, Vivian (Remegio) Pamat and Earl (the late Cynthia) Pali. Also survived by extensive extended family.

Mike was born in Detroit Michigan, the oldest boy in the family and he grew up with his six other siblings on the East Side of Detroit. There are so many wonderful, colorful stories of growing up in a large family, many of which are dear to our hearts and too numerous to share in this writing.

Mike graduated from Our Lady of Good Counsel grade School, De La Salle High School (Detroit) and attended University of Detroit where he majored in engineering. As a young adult, Mike worked as a waiter in upscale restaurants in the Detroit Area and moved to Maui, Hawaii. While in Hawaii, he worked at Nicks Fish Market in Oahu and Maui, and also managed a prestigious restaurant called Rene's on front street on Maui.

Mike met his wife Mercy, (also one of seven children), in Maui, Hawaii while bartending at Nicks Fish Market they connected and dated. Mike needed a place to build a trimaran boat. So, Mercy said he could rent the backyard for $100 a month and he agreed. From then on it was a New Beginning with a whole lot of LOVE. They finished the boat and wanted to sail to Tahiti but, instead they sold it and built their first home in Honokohau Valley on the island of Maui. They raised Donovan and Kenneth then sold their first house. They moved to Kihei, Maui and had Elliott and a year later in 1984 moved to Farmington Hills, Michigan and resided there for 32 years. Mike and Mercy and their three sons continued with visits back to Maui as often as they could.

The 1976 wedding reception of Mike and Mercy was held in the Maui Civic Center due to the size of the family in attendance. It's a Blessing of Love and 40 years of marriage.

Mike worked as an engineer in the safety and crash dummy section of General Motors for 20 years. He enjoyed his work of crashing new vehicles to be able to document the safety effects under different scenarios. Mike especially enjoyed testing the effects of safety belts on the crash dummies and particularly on the pregnant crash dummies he created, for improved safety and result testing. At the time, A GM internal newsletter article highlighted his work and the clever headline read: "Mike Marshall gets dummy pregnant", and makes the breast of the dummies look like Mercy's, that's Mike. His work was nationally recognized and his GM uniform together with his "pregnant" crash dummy is in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. Since Mike is a modest and behind the scenes type of person, he did not tell family members of this recognition, but we discovered it on our own. :-)

Mike retired from GM in 2011 and he and Mercy aspired to retire back to Maui, the beginning of their life together. Mercy is still working and their plan was to relocate to Maui in the next few years. In the meantime, as family members had serious health issues surface, Mike was always taking care of those in need, always in the background, always a solid rock to depend on and assist.

Mike was also a man of few words, but when he spoke, he was hilarious and always had a deep perspective he would share, when asked for his viewpoint.

The good Lord called Mike back home, but we are thankful for the 63 years we had him in our lives. He will surely be missed, but we look forward to our reunion again in Heaven. We believe he is up there now, discussing the current presidential elections with predeceased family members. He always liked to try to solve world problems...

Memorials suggested to the Michigan Humane Society.

No formal visitation or funeral will be taking place. Our Family is planning a celebration of life party at Grandpa Marshall's on Mike's birthday; October 28th. We are all grateful to be included in your healing energy and prayers on his unexpected death.