Mike Callahan

CALLAHAN BURNS SPERFSLAGE PETERSON

Posted By: diane (email)
Date: 3/24/2017 at 18:03:13

Mike Callahan was born on April 1, 1951 in Manchester, IA to Lloyd and Dorothy (Burns) Callahan. He grew up on a farm in rural Lamont. He passed away at his home in Winthrop on March 22, 2017.

He proudly served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. Mike enjoyed semis, car racing, and spending time with family and friends, especially his nieces and nephews. Mike was employed at Geater Manufacturing in Independence at the time of his death.

He was preceded in death by his parents. Mike is survived by his four siblings: Coleen (Dave) Sperfslage, Pat (Mary) Callahan, Celia (Jim) Peterson, and Jim (Dawn) Callahan, and several nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.

A visitation will be held on Sunday, March 26, 2017 from 2 until 5 pm at Fawcett Funeral Home, Winthrop.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, March 27, 2017 at 1:30 pm at Fawcett Funeral Home, Winthrop, with inurnment to follow at St. Albert Cemetery near Lamont, Iowa. Honorary bearers are his eleven nieces and nephews: Jason, Brian, Doug, Laura, Carrie, Penny, Heidi, Cory, Meghan, Kylee, and Casey.

Mike will be remembered as always having a smile on his face and a story to share. He often made grand entrances greeting others with a “hey buddy” or “hey girlfriend”, after ringing the doorbell consistently for what seemed like an eternity. He had special nicknames for family members, which included Butthead, Tarbutt, and Little Buddy. Mike was known to bring two things to family dinners: frozen dinner rolls that still needed to be baked and empty Tupperware bowls, hoping to take them home full of leftovers. His nieces and nephews remember him as being mysterious and cool and talking often of the time he spent in California, although never actually bringing them artifacts he promised from this magical place. They also remember him rough-housing with them, even though Grandma Callahan would be yelling at Mike and the kids to not be so loud! Two of his favorite expressions when talking to younger people were “gag me with a smurf” and “Biz, this is Biz, you use Biz”. He would also use some colorful language when asking people to NOT slurp their strawberry pop, and he made several Sunday night “must be squirrel city” visits to affectionately pester others! Mike enjoyed giving family members rides in his semi and showing off his Popeye tattoo. He always had an endless supply of Cheetos to share when the younger generation stopped by his house. Mike was even known to occasionally appear in a snapchat looking like a “grumpy old man” at work. He will be greatly missed by those who know and love him!