Services to Be Thursday For Michael J. Svilar, 26
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- Created on Monday, 05 February 2024 14:11
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Michael John Svilar
Services for Michael John Svilar will be held at noon Thursday, Feb. 8, at St. Gregory’s Catholic Church, 606 Etolin St.
Michael died Nov. 30 in Anchorage at the age of 26.
Michael, nicknamed “Pokey,” was born Jan. 6, 1997, in Worland, Wyoming, the town’s first baby of the year. He was the sixth child of Cheryl Newman and Tom Svilar and weighed 6 pounds, to make their six-pack.
Michael attended kindergarten at Riverton, Wyoming, and first grade through ninth in Sitka. He loved skateboarding, camping and boating, and made lots of friends here, the kind of friendships you don’t see everyday.
For the rest of his high school years he attended Hudson Bay High School in Vancouver, Washington, where he graduated with a 4.0 grade average and a full football scholarship.
Michael’s favorite pastimes over the years were skateboarding, riding his street bike and playing pool. He loved horses and wanted to be a bull rider, and he liked music, computers, the Pittsburgh Steelers and his dog Pasco.
The summer before college, Michael was working as a roofer and in road construction when he was in a car crash in Billings, Montana, which left him paralyzed. He fought hard to overcome his injuries, and always tried to be as normal as possible. He never let his accident change who he was, and was very happy and proud, full of love and sharing and doing for others. He passed away seven years after his accident – a truly tragic and unfair ending to his story, his family said.
“He will be remembered and missed by many,” they said.
Michael is survived by his mother, Cheryl Neyman of Sitka; brothers Howard Felix Jr. of Bangkok, Thailand, and Jason Svilar and Tommy Svilar of Sitka; sisters Tasha Felix of Olympia, Washington, and Alicia Svilar of Juneau; and father, Tommy Svilar Sr. of Casper Wyoming.
After the services Thursday, a gathering will be held downstairs at the church, for refreshments, photos, and visiting. Donations are welcome.
Thanks to the generosity and expertise of the the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska broadband department, Tidal Network ; Christopher Cropley, director of Tidal Network; and Luke Johnson, Tidal Network technician, SitkaSentinel.com is again being updated. Tidal Network has been working tirelessly to install Starlink satellite equipment for city and other critical institutions, including the Sentinel, following the sudden breakage of GCI's fiberoptic cable on August 29, which left most of Sitka without internet or phone connections. CCTHITA's public-spirited response to the emergency is inspiring.
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