Michael Artie Walz was born on December 15, 1950 in St. Louis Missouri and passed away surrounded by his loving family on January 10, 2021 in Columbia, Missouri due to complications of COVID-19.
Michael was the oldest child of William “Bill” and Catherine (Kopp) Walz. He graduated in 1968 from Kirkwood High School. In 1973, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at University of Missouri-Rolla (now Missouri University of Science and Technology). Upon graduation, he went to work for Black & Veatch as a System Design Engineer working on projects in Power, Environmental and Heavy Industry until 1992. He then worked for Burns and McDonnell, where he completed multiple projects both nationally and internationally. Mike loved when a plan came together, especially the start-ups of power plants. After 22 years, he retired from Burns & McDonnell in January 2015. Upon retirement, he and Janice designed and built their dream home on their farm in Fayette, Missouri, where he lived until his death. He enjoyed hunting, gardening, history, fireworks and spending time with his family.
On July 25th, 2019 he married the love of his life, Janice Smith. Their love story is one made of fairytales.
Survivors include his wife, Janice Smith (Fayette, MO); his mother, Catherine Walz (St. Louis, MO); sister, Sara Walz Thomas (St. Louis, MO); children Shane Walz (Heather) (St. Louis, MO), William Walz (Erinn) (Sedalia, CO), Nicole Rebuck (Kirk) (Charleston, SC) and Anna Hummel-Wettlaufer (Doug) (Kansas City, MO),step-son Major Andrew Hummel (Andrea) (West Point, NY) and grandchildren Brittney, Austin, Dustin, Eric IV, Bode, Jillian, Kinslie, Callan, Hendrix and Sloane Charlie.
Mike was preceded in death by his father, Bill, and daughter, Trae.
A Visitation will be held from 5:00pm to 7:00pm on Thursday, January 14 at Mt. Moriah, Newcomer & Freeman Funeral Home. A second Visitation will be held from 11:00am to 1:00pm on Friday, January 15 at the Funeral Home. This will be followed by a 1:00pm Funeral Service. This Service will be livestreamed and may be viewed by clicking the link below. A Graveside Committal Service will follow in Mount Moriah Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Mike’s honor can be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, the Engineering Department at Missouri University of Science and Technology and Tour de Force.
