Longtime Oak Harbor resident Mike S. Milat died in his home on Friday, July 3, surrounded by his loving family.
Mike was born in Velaluka, Yugoslavia (Croatia) on Nov. 21, 1929, to Donko and Mara Milat.
In 1932, the Milat family immigrated to the U.S. following friends and family from Velaluka to Anacortes. He began the first grade at Whitney Elementary not knowing a word of English, but soon became bilingual, which served him well throughout his life.
After graduating from Anacortes High School in 1947, Mike worked for a number of years in the salmon fishing industry, making numerous trips to Alaska, where he skippered his own purse-seiner, the PAFCO #10.
In 1951, he was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict and reached the rank of sergeant while serving throughout the southern U.S. One interesting memory of his Army service involved his witnessing an atom bomb test in Nevada with his Army unit. Later, in the 1950s and early 1960s, Mike served in the U.S. Army Reserve where he attained the rank of 1st Lieutenant.
Mike met the love of his life, Carolyn Lunsford, at a skating rink in Anacortes in 1945 while they were both in high school.
Not long after his discharge from the Army, Carolyn and Mike were married on November 28, 1953.
Mike took advantage of the GI Bill and enrolled in college at Western Washington University, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, along with his principal’s certification.
He began his teaching career in Oak Harbor in 1958 at Oak Harbor Elementary and would eventually become an elementary school principal in 1964.
Mike retired from his career in education in 1988 after 30 years, where he served as principal of Crescent Harbor and Olympic View Elementary Schools.
Mike served on the Oak Harbor City Council for 24 years acting as mayor pro-tem for 20 years. During his time on the council, he was a strong influence in the construction of the Oak Harbor Marina.
He was also a proud Rotarian with 50 years of perfect attendance and served as the Oak Harbor Rotary Club’s President in 1974-1975.
Mike was also a faithful parishioner at St. Augustine’s Catholic Church during his 55 years of residence in Oak Harbor and served on the Board of Directors of the Oak Harbor Senior Center.
Mike was a deeply proud and fiercely patriotic American who never missed an opportunity to fly the American flag at his home or stand at attention in local parades as the flag passed by.
He and Carolyn enjoyed many years of fun-filled boating and fishing in the San Juan and Gulf Islands. Later, they enjoyed summers on the Skagit River and winters in Arizona with their RV. Crabbing was always a great adventure for Mike as he took great delight in distributing his crab catch to appreciative friends and family.
Mike is survived by his wife of 62 years, Carolyn Milat, and his three children and their spouses, Anne and Ron Tarrant of Oak Harbor, Nick and Suzanne Milat of Black Diamond and Mark and Carol Milat of Auburn. He is also survived by four grandchildren, Sarah, Michael, Daniel and Alexandra Milat and his sisters Mary Dragovich, Betty (Will) Haney and Linda (Jim) Olson. Mike is also survived by his extended family that includes numerous cousins, nieces and nephews, his many friends and his faithful yellow lab, Babe.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Oak Harbor Rotary Mike Milat Excellence in Education Scholarship.
Interment is planned for a later date at the Tahoma National Cemetery.
Visitation for Mike Milat will be held on Friday, July 10, at Wallin Funeral Home from 1 to 5 p.m. with a rosary being said at 4 p.m. Funeral mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Augustine Catholic Church with Rev. Paul G. Pluth, JCL as celebrant. A reception for family and friends will follow at Wallin Funeral Home. Interment will follow at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, at a later date.
Please visit Mike’s page in the Book of Memories hosted at www.wallinfuneralhome.com to share memories and condolences. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Wallin Funeral Home & Cremation, LLC, Oak Harbor.