Michael "Mike" Pankratz

Born on July 21, 1935, at Holy Family Hospital in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Michael Luverne Pankratz was the youngest of four children. He grew up on his family's 100-acre dairy farm near Silver Lake in Manitowoc County, attended St. Joseph School at the Holy Family Convent, and graduated from Lincoln High School with the Class of 1952. It was at Lincoln High School, in Miss Aslakson's ninth-grade English class, that Mike met Bette Felber, the love of his life. They married shortly after graduation, at the Cathedral of St. Raphael & St. Patrick Church in Dubuque, Iowa. While working nights, Mike continued his education at Manitowoc Teachers’ College, earning his two-year teaching degree in the spring of 1954 at just 18 years old. Soon afterward, the young couple moved 100 miles south to Waukesha, Wisconsin, where Mike began his career in education and where they raised their five children. After teaching fifth grade at Zion Elementary for two years, he accepted a job at Richmond School, where he simultaneously taught grades 5-8 and was the school principal. During the summers, he also tutored students and held various part-time sales jobs. Although he eventually earned a degree in elementary education from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, it was his success in sales that defined Mike’s subsequent career. During the summer of 1958, he found that his experience as a teacher and his engaging personality were ideally suited for a part-time job selling World Book Encyclopedia as a door-to-door salesman. His success with World Book, led to a full-time job with the company, where he moved up the corporate ladder, eventually becoming a vice president in their Chicago, Illinois, office. He later joined another publishing company, which brought him to Houston, Texas, in 1980. But it was his 1984 introduction to Apple’s Macintosh computer that sparked another career change. Always interested in new technology—from reel-to-reel tape recorders to Super 8 video cameras, VHS recorders, and microwave ovens—he quickly embraced the user-friendly Mac and built a successful career helping schools and educators adopt, use, and support it. Mike and Bette were avid tennis players. In his early 50s, Mike took up running, completing four marathons and many shorter races. As he aged, the increasing impact of macular degeneration began to affect his activities. But always a competitor, his Fitbit would still regularly record more steps than anyone in his extended family, often as the result of navigating a shopping cart around local Kroger and Walmart stores, usually whistling “Be Not Afraid.” The Catholic Church was always central to Mike’s life, from his role as an 8-year-old altar boy to a Eucharistic minister at Saint Edwards, and a hospital minister at Saint Ignatius of Loyola in Spring, Texas. In addition to Bette (Felber) Pankratz, his beloved wife of 73 years, and his sister, Arlene Newhouse, Mike is survived by his children: Tom Pankratz (Julie) of League City, Texas, and their children, Chad (Carole), Sarah McCarthy (Jim), Michael, Katie Austin (Cody), and seven great-grandchildren; Terri Wright (the late Jon) of Spring, Texas, and their children, Jenna Sustaita (Edgar), Jessaca Sibr, Angila Gillette (Ken), Matthew (Alex), and nine great-grandchildren; Dan Pankratz (Kris) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and their children, Mark, Kristy Langfeldt (Andy), and four great-grandchildren; Cathy Bovagnet (Pascal) of Houston, Texas, and their children, Caroline (Fey), Chantal Corley (Dan), Sarah, Anais, and Kelly, and eight great-grandchildren; and Becca Butler of Houston, Texas, and her children, Amy Archibald (Alec), Emily (Tristan), and three great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Mike H. and Catherine (Mullane) Pankratz, his brothers Marvin and Raphael, and his grandson Jason. The Pankratz family thanks the staff of Northgate Assisted Living home in Tomball, Texas, and Heart to Heart Hospice for the comfort, and support they gave Mike.

Michael "Mike" Pankratz

July 21, 1935 - July 15, 2026