Daily Sitka Sentinel

Michael Hornaman Sr., Longtime Sitkan, Dies

Michael R. Hornaman Sr.

Michael R. Hornaman Sr., a longtime resident, died October 16, 2019, in Sitka surrounded by family members. He was 83.
Mike was born December 25, 1935,  in Seattle, Washington, to Melvin R. and Thelma (Drange) Cook. He spent his early years in Everett, Washington. When he was 9, he and his mother moved to Kansas City, Missouri, then Leawood, Kansas. He attended Coronth Grade School, then graduated from Shawnee Mission High School.
While in Kansas he met Barbara Stumpff. They were married July 12, 1958, in Everett, and in Jan. 1960, Mike moved to Sitka to work at Alaska Lumber & Pulp. Barbara followed a month later.
A year later they were blessed with a son, Michael Jr., and three years later they were blessed with another son, Matthew. While they were still young, Mike began teaching his sons his real love – fishing. Eventually. he bought his first troller, the CinDee, and in 1997 he bought the Tianna and fished her until he retired.
Mike was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, beloved grandmother Helen (Mikelborg) and Olaf Drange; his parents, Melvin Cook and Thelma (Drange) Johnson; stepfather Fred E.J. Hornaman, and uncle Ed Drange.
Survivors are his wife Barbara; sons Michael Jr. (Karen) and Matthew Sr., and grandsons Matthew Jr., Trevor and Logan, all of Sitka.
Also surviving are his sister, Jane (Hornaman) Sturgess of Florida; cousin Joan Benson of Freeland, Washington; friend “Tersea”; two dear friends from high school, John Yeasel and  Miles Oatman; and many cousins and fishing buddies.
Mike loved animals and always had a pocketful of treats. Over the years he shared his house with many felines, including Azure, whom he leaves behind.
The family is planning a celebration of life in the spring.