Michael Paul Stanis
February 21, 1943 – December 28, 2021
Michael Stanis, a resident of Kensington for 35 years, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to parents Jeanette and Paul, the eldest of five children. His sister Kathy describes Mike as a young man as “the epitome of cool.” His sisters and their friends envied him and his beatnik teen lifestyle.
A true child of the ‘50s, Mike had a life-long interest in cars and transportation. He made numerous road trips, crossing the U.S. many times. He also enjoyed trains – traveling by Amtrak and collecting model trains. Although he was not fond of flying, Mike found planes and other aircraft fascinating and subscribed to journals related to air travel technology.
In 1961 he joined the U.S. Air Force where he spent time stationed in France as a medical specialist. After discharge from the service, he began his musical career, traveling, working and studying wherever opportunities led him. He moved around the U.S. and Europe, including stints in St. Louis, Boston, Hawaii, and Vienna, where he studied classical guitar, which he taught and played for many years, until fiddling became his passion after retirement. In 1966 he came to California, like so many others. He initially settled in Berkeley, and he remained in the East Bay for the rest of his life. In recent years he could be found fiddling Irish jigs outside Kensington Circus Pub on weekends.
Mike was the father to three children, Shane, Nate, and Paul. He enjoyed learning about their interests and shared with them stories of his life and passionate opinions about current events. Volunteering at Paul’s elementary school eventually led to a second career as a special education aide in the West Contra Costa Unified School District until he retired in 2010.
Largely self-taught, Mike had a wide range of interests besides music and transportation, including painting, photography, cooking, and languages. He repaired and rebuilt musical instruments and collected anything which caught his fancy, including cameras, tarot decks, and foreign coins. During his retirement, he also busied himself reading, immersing himself in many online news sources, including some in French and German. He especially enjoyed watching Japanese animation and other Japanese language programs, and ambitiously read books in French, including works by Camus. He even found time to write a memoir about his Air Force experience (published in 2019 by Grizzly Peak Press). Shortly before his death, Mike discovered Haruki Murakami and completed nearly all of that author’s oeuvre in short order, including the massive 1Q84 in three days.
A sociable and talkative guy, Mike enjoyed lively chats with other denizens of the Walnut Square Peet’s Coffee in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, and in recent years relished his daily morning routine of riding his motorcycle to hang out with other seniors at Peet’s in Emeryville. Peet’s thus somewhat bookended Mike’s East Bay life.
Mike is survived by his wife Phyllis; children Shane, Nate, and Paul; granddaughter Poppy, all of Northern California; and sisters Kathy Stanis of San Diego and Susan Castro of Bakersfield.
To plant a tree in memory of Michael Paul Stanis, please visit our Tribute Store.
Send Flowers
