Mike was born in November 1958 in Kansas City. He graduated from Shawnee Mission East High School in 1977 and from the University of Kansas in 1982. With his journalism degree in hand, Mike worked for the College Boulevard News in Overland Park before moving to Hawaii in 1986. There he was hired by Discover Hawaii Magazine by his future wife, Linda Kephart. They married in 1991 and moved back to the Kansas City area.
Mike and Linda spent years as freelance writers, working for local and national publications, as well as doing communications projects for various companies. A few years later, Mike made a drastic career switch, learning how to be, and becoming, a certified arborist. He started Canopy Tree Care in 2007, working for clients all over the metro area. As much as he’d enjoyed being a writer/editor, he adored being an arborist. He rarely thought of retirement, although he admitted he was getting a bit old to be scaling up trees.
In 2000, Mike and Linda were blessed by the birth of their twins, Josh and Kira. Being a dad was one of Mike’s number one priorities. He was active in Boy Scouts with Josh and supported and accompanied Kira in all her music endeavors. He never missed a play, a game, or a band performance. In fact, family has always been number one for Mike.
He is survived by his loving sisters Terry Flynn (Shelly Gerber and their children Grace and Matthew); Marcy Langhofer (Tom and their daughter Kathryn and her fiancé Adam Rowe); and Laurie Rector (Dale and their children Quinn, Wyatt and Jillian). He was preceded in death by his parents Bob and Carol Flynn of Leawood and his niece Erin Langhofer of Overland Park.
Mike is also survived by his wife Linda of Overland Park, his son Josh of Manhattan, KS, and daughter Kira of Overland Park.
He was a kind, generous and fun-filled man who was always up for an adventure. He had a gentle spirit and fierce loyalties that his friends, family and business associates will miss. He will leave an enormous hole in all our lives.
A Memorial Service for Michael will be held Monday, May 2, 2022 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at the Wesley Chapel of United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, 13720 Roe Avenue, Leawood, KS 66224.
In lieu of flowers, we would request donations made in Mike’s name to two organizations he was passionate about: Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut (mysticseaport.org) or the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle (cwb.org). Mike was an avid sailor who never got enough of being on the water.
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