Milan Knezevic

Milan “Mike” Knezevic, 74, of Benton Harbor, passed away Tuesday, November 7, 2006 at Lakeland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 10:00 A.M. Saturday at Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph, with Rev. Dr. Arvid Straube officiating. Burial will follow at North Shore Memory Gardens. Friends may call from 5:00 until 7:00 P.M. Friday at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to the First Church of God, St. Joseph or the Michigan Lung Association. Those wishing to share a memory or sign the guest book online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com. Mike was born January 12, 1932 in Zucalokva, Yugoslavia to Stevo & Anka Knezevic. He enjoyed life and getting to know people. Mike had a keen interest in the politics of the country he felt honored to live in, having come to the United States as a young man. He first found employment traveling the country painting water towers & bridges. In this area, Mike was employed at Bendix Corp. and later at Advance Products. Mike had a gift for all things mechanical and was determined to own his business. He and his first wife Irene started their own machine shop in their garage and built M&I into a successful business. Life was filled with many trials for Mike, the most significant being the death of his only child, Stevo, in a car accident at the age of 11 and then the illness and loss of his wife and business partner, Irene. Yet he often stated that he loved life and felt inner happiness and contentment. On August 21, 1998, he married Hilde Roesler Fandrich in St. Joseph. Mike was a former member of the Greek Orthodox Church in Benton Harbor, and attended First Church of God in St. Joseph, where he enjoyed the fellowship of the members of his care group. In his spare time, Mike enjoyed fixing and reconditioning old tools & machines for resale. Mike was also an accomplished woodworker & cabinetmaker. Having lived other places, Mike truly appreciated the beauty of Michigan’s landscape and natural resources. He was however, still a Chicago Cubs & Bears Fan. He will be missed by all who knew him, but especially by Hilde’s family at annual reunions and his special friends Don Nigrow and Larry Schuck. Mike is survived by his wife Hilde; four children-Heidi (Ralph) Sommerfeld of New Buffalo, Monica (Gary) Bolin of St. Joseph, Doris (Bernard) Wermann of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Paul Fandrich of Coloma; eight grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren; his sister Bosa Cudic of Croatia; his brother Nino (Donna) Knezevic of Ringwood, IL; and four nieces & nephews including Steve & Milarad Knezevic.