Mike Armistead

Mike Armistead of Lilburn, Georgia, a former teacher, insurance and independent business owner, motivational speaker, consultant, and most recently Vice-President of Retirement Education for SunTrust Bank, died Saturday of a massive heart attack. He had been a patient at Emory Hospital for the past eighteen years since being diagnosed with electrical conductor system disease the week of his 40th birthday. He celebrated that milestone birthday with the insertion of a pacemaker, which kept his heart beating when his brain forgot to tell it to do so. As a patient at Emory, Mike helped doctors be able to pioneer research about this disease through his willingness to try experimental treatment options.  A Georgian native born in Marietta, Georgia in 1949 to Chester Cayes Armistead, deceased, and Pansy Hardman Armistead, Mike was a true Renaissance Man adored by family and friends. His life took many turns and twists, but he always approached life as he did the people in his life, with zest and love. Rudyard Kipling's "If you can keep your heads when all about you are losing theirs" was only one of the many pieces of poetry, prose, and Biblical scripture that he could spout at the drop of a hat. "I always knew that if there was any trivia or quotation that I needed, I could count on my brother for it," his sister Sandra Havriluk fondly recalls. "He was a wordsmith, a true historian, a Latin and German scholar, a musician who loved his trumpet, and a crossword puzzle and reading fiend. His sharp memory and Mensa level IQ was to be admired."  During his days as a teacher at Columbia High School in Clarkston, Georgia, Mike inspired his students.  Bill Crews, a fellow teacher and close friend of over two decades, remembers that "Mike had this uncanny ability to get and keep the attention of students of diverse backgrounds by doing the unconventional. The first time I ever walked by his classroom, he was standing on his desk reciting from memory Alfred, Lord Tennyson?s Charge of the Light Brigade." As football coach, Mike compiled a 25-4-1 record and was named teacher of the year three times. He joked that he received that award because he was able to vote for himself early and often. Mike's humor was legend among his friends. "Anyone needing a pick-me-up  knew to call Mike for a heart-to-heart or just to hear his many Rodney Dangerfield one-liners to brighten the day," his close friend Dave Bramlett reminisces. Mike was a graduate of the first senior class of Lakeside High School in 1967 and was an integral part of the establishment of tradition for that school, including the fight song, the mascot, and class ring design. He was educated at Mercer University from which he received his BA and from Belford University from which he received his Master of Theology. While teaching, Mike also served as a diaconal minister with St. Mark United Methodist Church in Atlanta , where he ministered to AIDS patients. His positive and caring nature and his ability to listen compassionately marked his time in the ministry. He always cited this experience as a watershed one in his life that instilled in him a determination to approach life in a nonjudgmental and loving way toward all. His eldest son Joe recalls that his dad's Christian perspective in life was based on his belief that "God always does for us what we cannot do for ourselves." Mike was an integral part of his Mountain Park Church Sunday School class and a spiritual leader and counselor to all who knew him. In 1986, Mike started his own insurance and employee benefits company. He was named "Small Business Star of the Year" by Business Atlanta Magazine in 1987 and by Financial Planning Magazine in 1985. He fielded an unsuccessful run as the Democratic candidate for Chairman of the Gwinnett County Commission against Lillian Webb in 1988 on a platform that stressed creation of special citizen task forces to combat special interests groups. Upon concluding his 14 year stint as an independent business owner, Mike became a consultant and worked throughout the United States and Canada as a motivational speaker. He authored a  book of poetry entitled Loving and Other Frailties and a motivational book entitled Living Alive All Day, Essays from the Positive Side, which captured his glass is half full approach to life.  Mike is survived by his loving wife of 29 years, Lisa McCuen Armistead, son Joseph Michael Armistead and his wife Ashton and three daughters Saige, Brynna, and Alexa of Loganville, Georgia; daughter Leslie Armistead Brooking and her husband Greg Brooking of Macon, Georgia; and son Jonathan Paul of Lilburn, Georgia. He is also survived by his mother, Pansy Hardman Armistead of Norcross; sister Sandra and her husband John Havriluk and their two children, Kristen and Amanda of Norcross; brother Gary Armistead and his wife Jeanie and their three children, Allyson, Jennifer and Patrick, of Washington, D.C.; and brother Chris Armistead and his wife Kathy and their two children, Feeney and Julia of Atlanta. Funeral Services will be held at Oak Grove Grove United Methodist Church on Wednesday, January 30th at 11 a.m., Rev. John Wolfe officiating.  Those preferring may make doIn Lieu of flowers donations may be made to www.smiletrain.org, the world's leading cleft foundation or www.gwinnettchildrenshelter.org. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at A. S. Turner & Sons.