MK "Mike" Buchanan

Mike Buchanan was born on April 12, 1932, in Dunn County, North Dakota to Roy Ross Buchanan and Pearl Wright Buchanan. He was given the name Myron Keith, but he never liked it, and the name Mike was adopted in high school. When he was very small the family moved to Oregon and settled in John Day - Grant County Oregon. Another son was added to the family, Victor. In 1943, the 3 boys had been playing in Canyon Creek and fell ill afterwards, which was determined to be the dreaded cause of a polio outbreak. Mike was the one who caught the disease and was taken to Doernbecher Hospital in Portland by the local physician's personal car. He spent months at the hospital undergoing hours of physical therapy and rehab. He was one of the lucky victims as the disease did not leave him completely paralyzed but with lasting effects to his left arm and right leg. The family moved to be closer while he was recovering and lived in McMinnville when the boys started school. After Mike’s recovery they moved back to Grant County, and the boys attended schools in Dayville and Canyon City, Oregon. High School was in John Day at Grant Union High School. Mike couldn't play sports, but he was proud to have earned his letterman sweater for being the football team manager. He had a friend who was a funeral director and that is how he became interested in the business. He spent his required apprenticeship year in La Grande and Junction City. He then moved to Los Angeles and in December of 1954 graduated from the California College of Mortuary Science. Upon graduation, he then returned to Junction City to begin employment with Ken Murphy at Murphy Funeral Home. He liked the town of Junction City and after he settled in he joined the Lions Club. Their meetings were held in the evening where the best cooks in town prepared the meals. A couple of young girls helped their mothers and one of them caught Mike's eye. He soon worked up the courage to ask her out on a date and months later he married his Pearl. Pearl and Mike were married in the Junction City Methodist Church on Sunday, August 11, 1957. They made their home in Junction City and welcomed their first child, Cindy on September 15th, 1958. Ben followed on October 8th, 1959, followed by Julie on October 4th, 1961. At this point it was time for a change in his career, so Mike went to work at the local plywood mill. Most might think that was a boring job, but he never complained, and he was perfectly content to do his job as a Skoog machine operator, a glue mixer, and then a night watchman, which required climbing numerous flights of stairs, which as you can imagine was hard on polio ravaged legs, but he never complained! All the while he kept up the required education to keep his Funeral Director and Embalming license and did embalming jobs after hours for Poole Larsen, Musgrove mortuaries, and Buell Chapel. When the mill closed and the wood working industry collapsed, Mike went to work for VT Golden in Salem. Pearl and Mike lived there a short time and then moved to Pendleton to work with Folsom Bishop Funeral Home. The next move was back to Eugene to be closer to family and Mike went to work for and retired from Chapel of Memories. He had enough of doing a tough job. Retirement saw him working in his yard of their new house. He was proud of all the beautiful Rhodes. He never bent over to pull a weed; it was too difficult, so he crawled on his hands and knees and pulled the weeds, making sure it came up with the roots intact! He was a great father, always mindful of making sure he provided for his family, even during hard times when the timber industry collapsed. He made sure there was food on the table and gas in the pickup, sitting in long gas lines for hours during odd/even gas line days. Mike always made sure he introduced the family to the wonder of nature, education, and the love of travel and camping. Every year they went on a family vacation to some distant destination in the United States, even traveling all the way, by car, to New York City during the Bicentennial celebration of 1976, the highlight of which was the entire family climbing up to the top of the Statue of Liberty. What a wonderful experience, but he could not wait to get back to our neck of the woods! Mike loved to travel, so he and Pearl became full time RVers traveling mainly up and down the West Coast. Mike really liked Hemet, California where they spent most of their time and made some good friends and had some very good times. Mike and Pearl eventually gave up the RV and purchased a lovely house in Hemet where they lived a few years; however, Mike's health quickly deteriorated as he was falling a lot and his polio weakened legs were wearing out. It was time to go back to Junction City and Eugene. They moved back to Oregon in 2014 and lived in Junction City and then Eugene. In 2019, it became obvious that Mike required more professional care than could be provided to him while living at home, so it was decided that he would move to Gateway Living in Springfield where he lived until August 21, 2021. He is survived by his wife Pearl May Dailey Buchanan; Son: Bently (Ben) Ray & wife Barbara Buchanan; Daughter: Julie DeeAnn Buchanan Williams & Fiancé Franklin (Frank) Russell. He was preceded in death by his daughter Cindell (Cindy) Louise Lashbaugh in 2019 and a brother, Neil Buchanan. Grandchildren include Jeremiah Stephen Williams of Springfield Oregon; Astra Lynn Henner & husband Jacob of Marcola Oregon; Rachel Anne Buchanan & husband, Sunny of Eugene Oregon; Eryn Ashley Buchanan Kelly & husband Niall of Wicklow Ireland; Grandson: Jesse Andrew Williams & wife Karen Ashley of Salem Oregon and Sierra Lindsey Sussman of Eugene. Brother: Victor Buchanan & wife Carrole of Federal Way Washington. Seven great grandchildren and numerous Nieces and Nephews. Final resting place is Alford Cemetery in Halsey, Oregon.