Michael Wayne McWilliams

Louisville pharmacist and musician Michael Wayne McWilliams, 73, was taking court at a Sunday morning practice to play tennis, the sport he truly loved. Then cardiac trauma struck. Despite valiant CPR efforts and around-the-clock attention from cardiac care teams at Baptist East, Mike passed away September 2.

Tennis was his long-time passion. So was music, beginning as a teen-ager, when an electric guitar unexpectedly arrived under the Christmas tree. Self-taught, Mike found many role models to emulate – Hendrix, Clapton, Leslie West, and Stevie Ray Vaughn, among many others. Often it was feared his loud wailing guitar might elicit a visit from authorities to turn the volume knob down from “10.” He was fascinated by the Beatles’ many innovative musical explorations, and the horns of Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears. Mike played guitar with a variety of bands, joining friends to form “Tom, Mick and Chris.” Later, he kept the 60s alive with Kingstown Soul, The Bluesbenders and most recently, through gigs with the Clubhouse Troubadours Band.

While he was guitar proficient (he always had an abundance of guitars, amps, wah-wahs and technology to produce the sounds he strived for), he continued to stretch his limits. As a middle-aged learner, Mike purchased a violin and enrolled in a beginner’s class at the Louisville Academy of Music. At term’s end, Mike was an outsized figure among elementary- and middle-school aged mates when he performed at the graduating recital. He explored the progressive at a renowned jazz camp and embraced the traditional, singing in the Cathedral choir. Harmonica, keyboard, bass, mandolin – if it produced notes, he’d try it.

Mike was the oldest of Bud and Jessie’s three children, sharing a cramped bedroom with his brother Terry and TV access with his sister Susan in their Southwest Jefferson County ranch home. Schooling was Catholic: first, with the nuns at nearby St. Clement, and then the brothers and priests at Bishop David High School (now Holy Cross), graduating in 1969.

After a stint as a line worker at General Electric’s Appliance Park, he pursued a life change. For years, he had been curious about the interaction of chemicals and how a subtle change in the mixtures of these substances could make a dangerous poison -- or conversely, a pharmaceutical that could help treat people medically. He enrolled in Jefferson Community College, graduated from the UK College of Pharmacy with a Bachelor of Science degree, and earned a Master of Science in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of Louisville in 1983. An MBA followed in 2000.

Mike worked in a variety of professional pharmaceutical settings – for hospitals, for a lab that compounded specialty drugs, in chain retail and during the latter part of his career, for agencies that served families of need in various parts of Louisville.

He bragged on his daughter Alison, looked forward to sharing time with her and her boys at soccer games, school functions and Disney World trips, and helped wherever and whenever he could with home maintenance and other issues. They’d frequently resurrect nostalgia from her childhood, peppered with Pee-Wee Herman memes, classic video games and quirky family stories.

He shared an appreciation for creativity and humanity with his partner Martha Greenwald, a poet, writer and university instructor who assisted his many musical explorations and projects. Mike provided Martha inspiration, encouragement and support for WhoWeLost, a project she founded in 2020 to memorialize the many lives impacted by the pandemic.

Humor-wise, Mike appreciated the corny slapstick of the Three Stooges, the brilliance of Monty Python, the awkward social interactions in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld and Difficult People, and anything Mel Brooks. He snickered at brother Terry’s many bad jokes and puns. In sports, they counted themselves among long-suffering UK football fans, trading expletives through texts; but also proudly celebrated UK basketball victories and championships. They met frequently for Dunkin Donuts coffee and conversation, where they updated each other’s life events, pursuits and passions.

Mike is predeceased by his father, Charles “Bud” McWilliams, and mother, Jessie Wilma (King) McWilliams, who passed away in 2018 and 2011, respectively.

He is survived by his daughter, Alison Noel Riley and her sons Braden and Colin; his partner Martha Greenwald and her daughter, Lucy; siblings Terry (Peggy) McWilliams and Susan (Kim) Eisner; nephews and nieces Kyle (Bre) McWilliams, Megan (Ainsley) Jones, Erin (Lucas) DeSchenes and Scott (Amanda) McWilliams; Ashley Eisner and Whitney Eisner; and great-nephews and nieces Payton, Aubrey and Macey McWilliams; Jensen and Jozy Jones; Riley and Levi DeSchnenes; and Lucia McWilliams. He is also survived by ex-wife Patricia McWilliams, aunts Marilyn Peckinpaugh and Judy (Andy) Fuchs, uncle Gene (Betty) McWilliams, and an abundance of paternal and maternal cousins.

Visitation is scheduled for Friday, September 12, from 4 p.m. through 8 p.m. at Arch L. Heady Funeral Home, 7410 Westport Rd., Louisville, 40222. Services will be held in the chapel at 11 a.m. Saturday, September 13.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts in Michael’s honor are suggested for your chosen charity, particularly those centered around arts, science and research.