My sincerest condolences to the entire family. Although I have not seen Mike for years, his memory as a fellow JHS alum and his love for "anything Notre Dame" is as fresh as they were 40 years ago! Mike is in a good place because he is a good person; of that I am certain.

Alex Petrilak
Class of '72

Steve and Terry,

Our condolences on the loss of Michael. Our prayers are with you and your family that God grant you strength, comfort, and consolation.

James and Olivia Mongaras

Mike was a wonderful man, and a terrific father to his beloved children.   It was always a pleasure spending time with Mike and hearing his stories. He will be missed by all who knew him.

His family has our sympathy and our prayers.

Christina, Jennifer and Christopher my deepest sympathy for your loss.  It's truly a tragic thing.  I know that Mike was a loving husband and a fantastic dad!  I also know that he was a great son! He was always so very nice to me....I've known him all my life and am truly sad for you all, and the entire Houle Family.  Take care.

My brother Mike was the oldest sibling of five children in our family.  As the only girl I was in the middle between two older (Mike and Steve) and two younger (Tom and Dave) brothers.  Mike was the best oldest brother a sister could have.  He was a doer.   He showed how he cared by his actions, not by ‘touchy, feely' discussions.  Mike was THE story teller in the family and he could always relate and embellish a good story.  
Mike always offered his advice whether or not you wanted to hear it.  Mike would always sign his cards to mom and dad as your favorite, no name required.  He would always call me his ‘favorite sister' in a long and drawn out voice, but then I was also his only sister.  Although Mike and I are the shortest two siblings in the family we formed a competitive team growing up against brothers Steve and Tom when playing football in the front yard.  
When Mike was in 6th grade, he became gaunt and was finally diagnosed with Crohn's disease – a painful autoimmune disorder of the small intestines.  Mike did not let this disease prevent him from enjoying life.  He was always a worker.  In his early teens he sold Fuller Brush door to door and as an older teen was the only child of an employee allowed to work a summer job at Glidden Paint, where our dad worked.  Mike was active in volunteer work while at Jesuit.  He was a member of the last all-male class admitted to Notre Dame in 1971 and was the coxswain on the Varsity Crew team. Mike always loved trains from a young age when he started building communities along his HO railroad tracks on the ping pong table and his train acreage grew exponentially over the years.  His love of trains continued throughout his life.  During college summers he worked for the Burlington Northern Railroad as a porter and waiter and was able to ride the trains throughout the United States.  After graduating from Notre Dame he earned a M.B.A. at the University of Texas at Austin that he always referred to as THE UNIVERSITY, no other description required.  Mike's thesis on building a high speed train line between Dallas and Houston was very forward thinking for the late 1970's.  The topic seemed like an outlier then, but 40 years later this topic is very relevant.  Mike literally went door to door, at dad's suggestion, to land his first post M.B.A. job at Westinghouse Credit.  A few months later when his supervisor asked what he thought about the secretary's job performance he had no complaints because she had kindly passed his resume to the hiring manager so that he got the interview and the job.
Mike was a generous brother who showed his love by actions, not words.  When I was in grad school at UT - Austin, I was using our families' kids' car, a Gremlin.  I was driving home from Austin to Dallas, when I blew a rod in the engine in the small town of Jarrell, 40 miles north of Austin.  Mike went back with me to pick up the car and we made a wrong turn onto a side street and he saw a '48 Desoto that he ended up buying and restoring.  Dad and Mike rebuilt the Gremlin engine and then unfortunately several months later the Gremlin met its demise during Christmas break, the day my youngest brother got his driver's license.  Mike then let me use his Cutlass convertible with one piece of advice.  “Don't ever lock the car, because the items in the car are not as valuable as replacing the soft top if someone decides to slit it with a knife to steal the contents in the car.”  When I graduated from UT, Mike let our brother Tom use the Cutlass at Notre Dame.
When my husband Kirk died suddenly and unexpectedly in 1992, Mike called and said that in lieu of attending the funeral services with hand-wringing, he would prefer to come up later in the year and help with our unfinished house remodel.  He came up for 2 weeks that year and had a blast because he had free reign to do the job his way.  He had just arrived at the house and an hour later he was hauling out a bathtub, to which my oldest daughter, Carolyn, who was 3 ½ at the time, asked, “Uncle Mike why did you come visit just to wreck our house?”  Mike was cutting the wires to a live (thought he had turned off the circuit breaker) 220 voltage stove and I saw a blue-green flash from across the room.  Mike just continued to work totally nonplussed.  Fortunately he was using insulated wire cutters.  Mike loved to take pictures, so that every time he heard a float plane take off, he rushed onto the deck to get the perfect picture.  Mike started every day in Anchorage with a bowl of Frosted Flakes (not allowed to eat at home), his always filled glass of Dr. Pepper, and a couple of Advil and he was good to go.  He did take a day off so we could go to Seward to see whales and puffins in the Kenai Fjords.  He also helped me over the next year sell two townhouses, transfer a piece of property, and dissolve a farm partnership with Kirk's parents with honesty and integrity.
Mike loved Quebec and even though we have a French surname, his French was pathetic.  Whenever he tried to speak French to his customers in Quebec, the French Canadians would immediately converse with him in English because they told him he was butchering the beautiful French language.
Mike was the devoted and fun dad.  He was always a kid at heart.  We were both visiting our parents when Christopher was 3 and he had a painful earache.  Mike held him upright in the chair all night because that was the only position in which Chris could sleep.  Mike was very active with Christopher and Jennifer's scouting activities and went on many backpacking trips in Vermont with them.  He was very proud of Christopher achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.
Mike, Christopher, and Jennifer went on many fun adventures, including the Grand Canyon and Glen Canyon area, Alaska, England, Ireland, and Croatia.  Mike packed so much in a vacation I think that it must have been a relief for those traveling with him to go home to rest. 
Last October Mike was home for mom's 81st birthday.  A few of mom's friends rented the large outdoor electric sign at Church to wish her a happy birthday.  I called Mike and asked him to go to church with mom so that he could take her picture with the sign.  His comment was, “Don't you think that mom is going to think something is up if I go to church and take my camera.  Do you want lightening to strike me down?”  Mike did accomplish the task and had to point out the sign to mom because the school was having a carnival and they could not park in the usual spot where she would walk by the sign.  
Mike moved to Florida several years ago when Tom and Mike bought Cardinal Unijax.  Mike was more than delighted to leave the cold weather of Vermont and embraced the warm, beach lifestyle of Florida.  Here he met Christina.  I am happy for Mike that he enjoyed his last years in Florida.  Mike never let his Crohn's disease get in the way of enjoying a full and fulfilling life.
I will miss you favorite brother, even all the advice.
Love,
Julie
(Your favorite sister)

I just found about about Mike's passing today. My condolences to the Houle family and friends for your loss.

Mike was a pleasure to know and work with during his time in Vermont. May the treasured memories of Mike comfort his family as it does his friends in Vermont.

Mike is remembered fondly by many of his former co-workers here in Vermont. Our sympathy and prayers go out to his family.

My thoughts and prayers are with the Houle family, friends, and relatives during this trying time. Jim Jenner (Jesuit class of 1971)

 " Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Houle family." 
   Jerald and Pat Kelly

Mike was a wonderful person and I was very fortunate to have been his classmate at Jesuit ( '71)and Notre Dame ('75). I am thankful for the memories of his life and pray that you receive God's grace and blessings during this time of loss.

Our thoughts and prayers goes out to the Houle family.

God bless you Mike Houle, my stand-in father/ grandfather and loving companion of my grandmother Christina Manassa. You loved me like a son, and I will never forget you. It's a shame that you were taken from us, but I know that it would have been selfish to hold on to you in the condition you were in. Rest in peace, and may God have mercy.

We are keeping your family in our thoughts and prayers.

My deepest prayers go out to the entire Houle family for your lose.

The Runne family wishes to express our deepest sympathy for your loss, We will pray to our Lord Jesus Christ, to ease your pain and sorrow in your time of mourning. Mike brought much happiness and fun to our household by introducing us to Scouting. We shared many great times together, We have no doubt in our minds that Mike sits at the right hand of God almighty. Rest assured, he is home with his heavenly father.

My deepest sympathy to you Jennifer and Christopher over the loss of your dad.

Lorraine Durovich

Family and friends, I'm very sorry for your heavy loss. I truly enjoyed my years working with Mike and he will be missed by all of us.

My condolences go out to the family. I'll pray to god for the strength for your family to get through this difficult time.  It was a pleasure to work for Mike for three years.

My sincere sympathy to Clay, Eunice, and the entire family in the loss of their dear son, Michael.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you in your time of grief.  May your memories bring you comfort.

My thoughts and prayers are with you in your time of grief.  May your memories bring you comfort.

OBITUARIO

Michael Clayton Houle

14 octubre, 1952 – 6 marzo, 2012

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