MICHAEL PIKE Michael Pike was the eldest son of Clarence and Lois Pike of Manitowac, WI. He was born in Green Bay and loved the Packers. His closest family was Aunt Shirley, siblings Jim, Peggy, and Shirley, his wife Chris, stepdaughter Orien, and the Riparia Community. His brother Bob predeceased him. Michael was an Eagle Scout, a high school football player, and an accomplished telemark skier. In 1966 he was drafted and became a Green Beret in Vietnam. Michael was a Registered Nurse and alternated between Emergency Room nursing and surfing, wind-surfing, kay-aking, and back-country alpine skiing. After he retired from nursing, he was a "jack of all trades." In 2007, Mike converted a diesel truck to run on straight vegetable oil and he and his wife traveled North America for ten months. "The Veggie Voyagers: An Eco-Friendly, Low Budget Loop of North America's Wild Places Powered by Used Cooking Oil," was written about those adventures. Michael devoted himself to social justice and environmental protection. He carried medical supplies to clinics in the war zone of Nicaragua during the U.S. backed contra war in 1983. He worked tirelessly on the Measure A campaign that protected the Comanche Creek greenway in 2001. He stood against U.S. drone assassinations with Veterans for Peace at Beale A.F.B. and against the Chico Military Heroes Banner Campaign this year. Mike's devotion to staying off fossil fuels and his love of travel/outdoor adventure continued until his death from cancer. He died peacefully at home with family and friends. Mike will be awarded a posthumous life-time achievement award at the Chico Peace and Justice Center Annual Dinner on Oct. 9th. (Call the Peace Center for information 893-9078.) You can read more about his remarkable life and adventures at www.veggievoyagers.blogspot.com
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Published in Chico Enterprise-Record on Oct. 4, 2014

http://www.veggievoyagers.blogspot.com/