Michael Hubert Tomlinson SR.

Michael Hubert Tomlinson Sr. passed away April 14, 2026, at age 90. Born in Compton, California, on January 13, 1936, to Cecilia Margareth Kachelmeyer Tomlinson and Hubert “Bud” Dunn Tomlinson, Mike lived in Los Angeles County his whole life. He attended St. Elisabeth primary school and Notre Dame High School in Van Nuys. At 14, he got his first job at the nearby Serber’s Market, stocking groceries, and took other posts early in his life at a Texaco gas station and machine shops in the neighborhood, including Preshau, Thompson Electronics, and Pasbro.

He took flying lessons and got his pilot’s license at 18, when he also got a job at Nudoor, a company that made aluminum sliding doors. In May of 1955, he met Sarah Brown at a local gas station called The Gazbah, where she worked. The two were married in 1957 and bought their first home in Encino. They became lifelong friends with several of their neighbors there. Mike and Sarah both began working at Fedco Department Store.

In 1958, Mike started his career as a plumber at Beckley-Lennon Plumbing in Santa Monica. The company sent him to plumbing school, and he worked as an apprentice and got his plumbing license. Mike did construction and repair work for the company all over Los Angeles and up and down the coast, often in elite neighborhoods. He plumbed the home of architect John Elgin Woolf and worked on construction projects for well-known entertainers, including Elvis Presley and Doris Day.

In 1961, Mike and Sarah invested in an apartment complex in Van Nuys and moved their family of four into one of the units. Two years later, they bought and moved into a home in Woodland Hills, where Mike lived for the rest of his life.

Beckley-Lennon closed in 1966, and Mike landed a job in the plumbing department of the Los Angeles Unified School District in 1967, later transferring to the Los Angeles City College District. He worked at Los Angeles Valley College in Van Nuys until his retirement at the end of 1999, after 32 years.

Throughout his life, Mike had a passion for fast cars, starting with a 1929-31 Model A Roadster he and his brother, Pat, built in 1951. He was among the youths of that era who started the tradition of cruising Van Nuys Boulevard and hung out at the nearby Bob’s Big Boy restaurant, when a hamburger there cost 45 cents.

Mike was always mechanically inclined and loved tinkering in the garage. He could build and fix pretty much anything. He also enjoyed camping, boating, and just spending time with his family. He patiently and intuitively taught his children and grandchildren a wide variety of skills that he’d acquired over the course of his life.

He also had a soft spot for animals. Over the years, he took in dogs; cats, including a stray kitten he found in the bushes in front of his house; rabbits; a tortoise; a cockatiel that showed up in the backyard; and a very large, old, blind bird that he rescued from the freeway when it was blocking traffic on his way home from work one day.

Mike is survived by his son, Michael Hubert Tomlinson Jr.; daughter Katherine Tomlinson; daughter-in-law Susan Tomlinson; grandchildren Michael Hubert Tomlinson III, Jessica Tomlinson, Chelsea Brown, and Ryan Brown; great-grandchildren Michael Hubert Tomlinson IV, Myles Batoon, and Beau Tomlinson; former wife Sarah Brown Tomlinson; sister-in-law Litha Tomlinson; niece Tricia Tomlinson; and nephews Michael Steven Tomlinson and Tim Tomlinson.

A graveside service will take place on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks-Griffin Memorial Park in Westlake Village, California.