John Michael Pearson

John Michael “Mike” Pearson passed away peacefully on October 14, 2012, with his family by his side in Houston, Texas. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, October 23 at Earthman Resthaven Chapel at 10:00 a.m., followed by a military honor at the Houston National Cemetery.

John Michael Pearson was born on November 10, 1939, in Anderson, Indiana. He was the second of three sons born to Robert Morris and Grace Irene (Briner) Pearson. Known best by his middle name, Mike spent the first six years of his life in Indiana, moving with his parents and brothers to Long Beach, California when he was seven. He graduated from Wilson High School in Long Beach in 1957 and spent the following two years at Long Beach Community College. From there he transferred to the University of California at Berkeley, where he studied engineering. With one year left until graduation, he left Berkeley and enlisted in the United States Air Force.

While in Basic Training in San Antonio, Texas; he applied for, and was accepted into, a program that returned him to college at Arizona State University to complete his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. Upon completion of his degree, he attended Officer Training School at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas; followed by aircraft maintenance technical school at Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois.

While on leave prior to attending college in Arizona, he met Linda Peterson. They fell in love and were married on November 29, 1963, in Long Beach, CA. Together they moved to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, where Mike was assigned to the Strategic Air Command as a maintenance officer. Following a year of remote duty in Thailand, Mike returned to Wright-Patterson AFB to attend the Air Force Institute of Technology where he earned a Master of Science degree in Logistics Management. He spent the following three years at the Air Force Logistics Command (WPAFB) where he was deeply involved in research. It was during this time that Mike and Linda adopted their first son, Gregory Michael, who was born in Dayton, OH on February 12, 1970.

In 1972, Mike was accepted into the Air Force Ph.D. program in Operations Research/Systems Analysis. He applied to, and was accepted into, the School of Engineering at the University of California at Irvine. Mike, Linda, and Gregory moved to Garden Grove, CA. During their time in California, they once again expanded their family by adopting their second son, Jeffrey Scott, who was born on April 20, 1974, in Los Angeles, CA.

In 1975 they returned to WPAFB in Ohio where Mike was assigned as an Associate Professor of Operations Research on the faculty of the School of Systems and Logistics at the Air Force Institute of Technology. After serving on the faculty for 4 years, Mike returned to Air Force Logistics Command. He retired from the Air Force as a Major after 20 years of service and joined the faculty as part of the School of Business at the University of Dayton.

Having spent the majority of his military career in Ohio, Mike and Linda decided to look for a warmer climate and moved to Beaumont, Texas in August of 1988. Mike joined the faculty as part of the School of Business at Lamar University. In 2006, after 18 years of teaching, he retired from Lamar University. At that time, Mike and Linda moved to Pearland, Texas, a suburb of Houston, to be closer to their sons and grandchildren who lived in the Houston area.

John Michael “Mike” Pearson is survived by his wife of nearly 49 years, Linda Peterson; his brother Robert Pearson and wife Judy of Seal Beach, CA, son Gregory Pearson and wife Amy Pearson of Pearland, TX, their children Grayson (15), Adam (11), and Emily (8); and son Jeffrey Pearson and partner April Burns of Houston, TX and her three children Seth (18), Ean (17), and Amaris (15). Mike also is survived by his Sister-in-Law Bonnie Dorrans and husband David of Long Beach, CA. Mike has four surviving nieces and nephews: Valerie Pearson of Seal Beach, CA, Steven Pearson of Garden Grove, CA, Craig Dorrans of Norfolk, VA and Leslie Dorrans of Houston, TX.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Steve Pearson.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made in the memory of John Pearson to the Star of Hope Mission in Houston, TX. Donations can be made online at https://www.sohmission.org/netcommunity/page.aspx?pid=204.