Obituary of Michael Charles Haines

 

 

In the evening of June 17, 2020, Michael “Mike” Charles Haines, lost his brave fight against cancer at home surrounded by his loving family.

 

He was preceded in death by his father, Jesse Haines and mother, Francis.

 

Mike was adopted as an infant; a few years ago he learned he has a sister, Rebecca Pennington, who lives in Arizona with her husband.  They have exchanged many telephone calls but never met in person.

 

Mike graduated from South Salem High School; graduated from the University of Oregon in 1968 and was a lifelong member of Delta Tau Delta and remained good friends with his college friends Tom Connolly and Chuck Hosack.

 

Mike graduated from Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland Oregon in 1974 and practiced law for many years; taking a 7 year hiatus to be a cherry farmer in Salem, returning to the practice of law in 1997. 

 

He is survived by his wife, Linda, his children April Post, Amy Barnwell (Lance); Jess Haines; Michael Lev Haines; his grandchildren:  Jalen, Austin & Payten, Alexis & Lucas, Dylan and (another) Lucas and his sister Rebecca Pennington.

 

Loving Father, Husband, Grandfather and PaPa

 

Mike loved to travel with his family and friends; he and his wife traveled to many destinations and tried to go to a baseball or basketball game in every city/state visited. Mike was a big fan of the Portland Trailblazers, he would try and watch every game he could with his youngest son and his wife.

 

Kona Hawaii was a favorite travel destination and he went with his wife many times and they once took several family members to Kona for a week while contemplating a destination wedding.   They lived, worked and vacationed together for many years and opened their own law firm in 2001. 

 

Mike was always involved and provided for his children’s sporting events; his daughters’ horses, and education …..was his son Michael Lev Haines’ CYO basketball coach for three years and also YMCA basketball coach for two years.

 

He was kind, compassionate, extremely generous, supportive, very intelligent, caring and loved his family unconditionally. Mike had a contagious smile and unique sense of humor, he never stopped cracking silly Dad jokes. He always gave tremendous support, encouragement, and great advice to his children when they were in need or dealt with stressful times. There was nothing he wouldn't do for a loved one and would drop anything else in his life at an instant for them. He was a very strong person, mentally, physically, and emotionally. He never gave up in his battle with cancer and always remained optimistic, for his own life and for his loved ones.

 

Just a few of the comments from the legal community:  “He was one of my favorite attorneys, his professionalism, easy going manner and sense of humor will be missed, he was one of the good ones!”.....”Incredibly kind and his kindness will not be forgotten”……”Strong advocate for his clients and for that he will be remembered and respected”……”We were lucky and honored to have Mike as part of the legal community, he was always respected for his honesty, he was a great lawyer”……..”One of the best lawyers and people I have ever known, truly warm, funny and a joy to be around”…..

 

A private funeral mass will be at All Saints Catholic Church the morning of July 16th.

 

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations in Mike’s name to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Medical Center in Houston, Texas.