Obituary of Michael J. Scully

Michael Joseph Scully, 90, left his loving children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to enter eternal peace on September 7, 2016 after a brief illness. Mike was born on July 10, 1926 in Arnprior, Ontario, the son of Maurice Scully and Eleanor (Walsh) Scully. Mike grew up in the small Ottawa Valley town of Douglas, Ontario, the eldest child of a barber and a school teacher, where he excelled at sports, especially hockey, and harmless mischief as the natural leader among his friends. At age 17 during WWII he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and was trained as a tail-gunner in Lancaster bombers. When the war ended, he returned to finish high school. Fortunately his new locker was located next to the beautiful Shirley Barone. When he first saw her, he told a friend, “That’s the girl I’m going to marry.” And he did. Shirley and Mike were wed in 1950 while he was a student at the University of Toronto. Their marriage was fruitful: eight children came into their lives over the next 18 years. Mike worked as a civil engineer, managing the construction of major projects all over the U.S. and Canada from British Columbia to South Carolina, including paper mills, biomass plants, transmission lines and hydroelectric dams. Sometimes working two jobs, Mike did everything necessary to provide his growing family with food, shelter and endless love. Mike was an extremely social man who could make friends with anyone, yet he never drank or stayed out, returning from work to his family every night of his adult life. He had an extraordinary gift for telling stories from his long life, sometimes embellished but always entertaining. His laughter was infectious. Mike was active throughout his long life, playing adult hockey for decades and ultimately playing on the same team as his eldest son Michael. He obtained his private pilot’s license and flew for many years, including a harrowing trip inside the Arctic Circle with a close friend and fellow pilot. In his 70s he travelled to Antarctica with Shirley’s uncle and brought back wondrous tales of penguins and ice floes. In his mid-80’s he was still employed as a Civil Engineer and still piloting small airplanes for fun. At 89 he travelled to Ireland for a grandson’s medical school graduation and toured the land of his ancestors. Struck by Ireland’s beauty, he repeatedly asked how his people could have left, knowing full well that they were driven out by the famine. Two months before his death he celebrated his 90th birthday in a huge gathering of family and friends, some travelling for thousands of miles to be with this wonderful man. He danced at a grandson’s wedding only two weeks before he died. His wife and his family meant the world to Mike, and he loved watching his children and grandchildren grow and prosper. He and Shirley sowed so many seeds that they have 2 grandsons born on the same date, as well as a son who shares the same birthday with a grandson and a great grandson. To date he has been blessed with seventeen grandchildren and twenty-one great grandchildren, all of whom know and love him as Grandpa Mike. He is especially loved by his children’s step-children, all of whom he welcomed and loved unconditionally as his own blood. As the first person in his family to attend college, he instilled in his children and grandchildren the value of education and the confidence to pursue their own dreams. His faith was deep and he attended Mass every week until his death. Mike was predeceased by his parents, by his brother Patrick, by his sister Catherine, and in 2015 by Shirley – the love of his life and his wife for 65 years. The two were devoted to each other as true lifelong partners. He is survived by his daughters, Shannon Phair and husband Stephen, Michelle Johnson and husband Robert, Erin Joseph and daughter Mariclaire; and by his sons, Michael and wife Debra, Patrick and wife Victoria, Sean and wife Melissa, Kevin, and Brendan and wife Angela. Mike’s funeral will be held at Notre Dame Church on Silver Street in Waterville at 9 A.M. on Monday October 10, 2016.