Michael Francis Nanof

May 16, 1958 - March 13, 2021

Michael F. Nanof was born in Worcester, Mass. on May 16, 1958 to Michael and Ellanor (Blakey) Nanof. He was the older brother of Diane, JoAnn, & Tina. After his father’s passing in 1976, he traveled down the east coast, coaching gymnastics and doing handyman work. He eventually made his way to Arizona, where he coached boys gymnastics.

In 1988, he opened Gym Kids Gymnastics at McClintock & Elliot in Tempe, AZ. This is where he met his future wife and business partner, Dawn, when she signed her daughter up for gymnastics classes. He found out she had season tickets to the Phoenix Cardinals, and ended up inviting himself to a game with her. His smooth moves on the dance floor at Bobby McGee’s won her over, and they began dating shortly after.

Together, Mike & Dawn had a chain of small gymnastics schools around the Phoenix metro area. After going to an antique toy show in Phoenix and finding out how rare and valuable Dawn’s childhood dolls were, Mike developed an interest in Barbie dolls. In addition to their gymnastics school and Dawn’s real estate business, the family began traveling to toy and doll shows across the country, becoming some of the foremost experts in the Barbie world.

In 1993, Mike, Dawn, & Heather moved to Dawn’s hometown of Houston, Minn. and opened their Barbie Doll Museum and Gymnastics At The Matinee in the historic Trojan Theater in nearby Rushford, Minn. Mike and Dawn were married in their theater on August 27, 1994 in a very memorable joint Barbie & Gymnastics themed wedding, where they starred as Barbie & Ken. The local news did a segment on their wedding, which was picked up and aired all over the country.

By 1998, their successful gymnastics program had outgrown the theater’s facility, and they were approached by a group wanting to get them into a larger facility in La Crosse, Wisc. By 1999, the all new At The Matinee Gymnastics Center was completed. Mike finally had his dream gym - the largest all-girls USA Gymnastics facility in all of Wisconsin, Minnesota, & Iowa at the time. The Barbie museum moved to the small tourist town of Lanesboro, Minn. for a while, and Mike, Dawn, & Heather coached together in La Crosse until Heather moved away for college. Over the 11 years Mike & Dawn had the gym in La Crosse they worked with several wonderful gymnasts and coaches that are still in touch with the family today.

Daughter, Heather, had moved back to Arizona. Thanks to social media and the internet, in 2007 she was able to get in touch with Mike’s daughter from a previous marriage, Rebekah. Mike was able to reunite with Rebekah and meet her children on New Year’s Day 2008. In 2010, Mike & Dawn made the decision to move their gymnastics school back to Arizona so they could be close to their daughters and grandchildren. They called their small gym in Mesa, Ariz. their “retirement gym”. Mike was fortunate to be able to coach these past 10 years alongside his wife Dawn, daughter Heather, and granddaughter Klara. Their “retirement gym” ended up being their most successful gym ever.

Heather moved back to Minnesota a year ago, and Mike was so proud that she found a job at an architecture firm. With everything going on in the world, she was struggling to work an office job and be there for her children’s online schooling. When Mike & Dawn had to close down their gymnastics school in January, they offered to give Heather all of the equipment she would need to open a gym of her own in Minnesota and continue the family legacy. Mike was so happy knowing the gym - his gym - would live on through Heather, and he spent his last week helping her plan out the new facility and load equipment into the moving truck.

Mike’s greatest joys in life were the love of his life, Dawn, coaching gymnastics and teaching life lessons along the way, spending time with family & his 7 grandchildren, boating on the lakes in Arizona, family and gym trips to Disney, going to Arizona Cardinals games, riding bikes on the beach in California, remodeling houses, holding babies, basketball, Star Trek, Star Wars, Avengers, his 944 Porsche, orange slices, Diet Pepsi, Culver’s, & taking the grandkids to Dunkin’ Donuts, so they could watch him drink coffee and read the newspaper.

Mike was preceded in death by his parents.

He is survived by his wife Dawn, daughters Heather (Jon) & Rebekah, grandchildren Klara (21), Jacob (18), Jackson (14), Mira (13), Chase (10), George (7), & Olivia (6), his sisters Diane Clough, JoAnn (Scott) McDonald, & Tina (Jeremy) Rowe, nieces and nephews, and the thousands of gymnasts he has coached and mentored over the years.

The wonderful memories people have been sharing of him in cards and on social media have helped the family see how many lives he has positively impacted, and it has been very uplifting.

In lieu of flowers please leave a message of condolence for the family.