Michael Julius King

Michael (Mike) J. King, 83, of St. Linus parish in Oak Lawn returned to his Creator and Sustainer on August 31, 2024, surrounded by his loving family. Mike was the devoted husband of his beloved wife Cheryl (Hedlund) King for fifty-one happy years and the loving dad of Michael G. (Kris) and Julie V. King. He was also the loving grandfather of John Phillip and Grace Helen King and the long-grieving grandfather of the late newborns Colin Michael and Aiden James King.

Mike was the loving son of George M. and Virginia D. (Gorecki) King. Mike’s paternal grandparents were the late Michael J. and Catherine (Clancy) King both originally of County Clare, Ireland. His maternal grandparents were the late John and Agnes (Piechocki) Gorecki of Immaculate Conception BVM parish in South Chicago.

Mike was originally of St. Carthage parish in Englewood and was a Quigley seminarian and the second of three generations to graduate from Mt. Carmel High School. He was also an alumnus of DePaul University.

After college he enlisted in the United States Army, graduated from Airborne and Ranger Schools, and served enthusiastically as a platoon leader and rifle company executive officer in the 1st Battalion 30th Infantry in Cold War West Germany.

After returning from Germany Mike earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in history at Northern Illinois University and taught for many years at Moraine Valley Community College. He travelled to Europe frequently and used slides he’d taken and artifacts he’d collected to enhance his classes. He also wrote works on the World War II Ranger Battalions and served as Visiting Associate Professor of Military History at the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.

Mike’s family extends special thanks to Nurse Melissa and Doctors Al-Khaled, Burke, and Kabbany of Consultants in Cardiology & Electrophysiology of Evergreen Park for having enabled Mike to experience so many of later life’s milestones and to be there when his family needed him.

Contributions to Men of Carmel Fund in lieu of flowers.

Family and friends will gather for a visitation for Michael that will take place on Wednesday, September 4, 2024 from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Blake-Lamb Funeral Home, 4727 West 103rd Street, Oak Lawn, IL 60453. Funeral to follow Thursday, September 5, 2024 at St. Linus Catholic Church, 10300 South Lawler Avenue, Oak Lawn, IL 60453 with a Mass of Christian Burial celebrated at 9:30 AM. Interment to follow at Holy Cross Cemetery, 801 Michigan City Road, Calumet City, IL 60409.