This was from Dave Ellison, Mikes father. He wrote this for Mikes funeral. Mike was buried in Westwood, CA in a beautiful cemetary surrounded by pine trees. There were about 25 people at the funeral which included 12 nurses from Country Villa. All the nurses there liked Mike and he was a Romeo with them. Dave says "we know now his suffering is over and he is in a better place".
Mikes story:
Michael David Ellison was born June 27th, 1959 at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, CA. He is survived by his mother Jean, father David, brother Gary, sister Sandra. Mike's older sister passed away in 1998. Mike is also survived by Garys wife Cindy and their children Derek, Brook, and Chase. Sandy's husband Paul and their children Glen and Jamie. There are also several aunts, uncles, and cousins in the family.
Michael was brought up in Lompoc, CA. He graduated from Lompoc High School. He was a member of the Baseball team and also Water Polo. He received Varsity Letter for each sport. After graduation from High School, he held several different jobs. About that time Gary had entered Lassen College to play basketball. The baseball coach at Lassen found out that Gary had a brother that played baseball.
After Lassen, Mike received an athletic scholarship to Cal State Northridge. During his 2 years there, he was the starting Catcher and one time during the season he led all college catchers with 11 Home Runs. Mike also hit 4 Grand Slams during his 2 years. In 1984, Cal State Northridge won the 1984 Division 2 College World Series. Mike was named the MVP Catcher of the Tournament. Mike graduated from Northridge in 1984 with a Degree in Elementary Education.
On Oct 11, 1991 on a rainy evening, Mike was hit ba a car while riding his bike in Lompoc. For the next 4 months he was at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara. Mike was transferred to the Santa Barbara Rehab Hospital in Goleta. He spent about 2 months there and then transferred to Gilroy to another rehab hospital. On July 10th, 1992 Mike went to Car West in Susanville, CA now called Country Villa. Mike spent the next 15 years at Country Villa. During that time he showed some improvement and then he had a bad seizure and never came back to where he was.
During his stay at Country Villa, he received excellent care. The staff there always did the best to make him as happy as possible. They showed him great respect and love and affection.
All in all Mike was a survivor. Despite all his problems, he would still manage to smile and carry on. He must have had a strong institution to be able to overcome all of his problems and still fight to keep living.