Born May 12, 1936 in Bronx, NY, Mike was the son of the late Jacob Thailer and Sarah Markowitz Thailer. Mike graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School and went on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering at Brooklyn Polytechnical Institute, where he was also part of the ROTC program. Mike went on to be a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, stationed in Fort Belvoir, Virginia and continued as a reservist for 8 years. His first civilian job was with Worthington Pump, in East Orange, NJ, where he specialized in the design and manufacture of HVAC components. When Worthington Pump was acquired several times over many years, Mike was retained as a valued employee. He later started his own HVAC parts supply business which he ran successfully for many years.
While work was a very important part of his life, his family, friends, neighbors and community were even more important. Mike married his childhood sweetheart, Linda Wittenberg, in 1959, and was an adoring husband and wonderful partner. He was an awesome parent and fiercely proud grandparent, uncle, and great-uncle. Mike loved to read, play cards and golf, watch his NY Yankees in person or on TV, and was a ruthless Monopoly player.
Mike and Linda lived in Rockaway, NJ for over 50 years, where they raised their family. Mike was an active member of White Meadow Temple, serving as Men’s Club president, president of the synagogue, and in other Board of Directors positions as well as overseeing two major synagogue expansions. His commitment to the institution was abundantly evident but so was his commitment to the individuals within it.
He is survived by his wife of more than 60 years, Linda; three children, Marcy (Chuck Miller) of Waxhaw, Daniel (Trudy) of Charlotte and Jay (Ilene) of Montville, NJ; and 8 amazing grandchildren, Alexa Miller of Indian Trail, SC, Ian Miller of Belvidere, NJ, Dillon, Sophie and Melanie Thailer of Charlotte, and Jordan, Evan and Rachel Thailer of Montville, NJ; his sister, Joan Thailer Levenberg (Jerry) of Cedarhurst, NY; as well as many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews all of whom he loved with every particle of his being.
He was preceded in death by his brother, Irwin Thailer and sisters-in-law, Barbara Gilston Thailer and June Wittenberg Walker, and his niece, Ellen Walker who he loved very much.
Graveside services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 5th for the immediate family with a Facebook Live link available for all others.
For those wishing to send memorial gifts, please consider the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (phassociation.org), White Meadow Temple (whitemeadowtemple.org), Temple Israel (TempleIsraelNC.org) or Second Harvest (secondharvestmetrolina.org).
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