I write with great sadness about the death of Michael William Hite, animal technician in Physical & Biological Sciences. Mike passed away on July 7 after a courageous battle with lung disease. He was 63.
Mike dedicated his life to the care of animals. Before coming to the university he was, for many years, an animal technician for Santa Cruz Veterinary Hospital. He cared for animals at the university for 20 years. He thought of the animals first, everything else second. The day of the Sinshimer fire, he crossed fire lines to be sure his animals were OK. We, his coworkers, considered him a friend closer than family. He was always generous and willing to help; he was a team player. He never missed a day. He made our little corner of the university into a family.
He served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War and was a member of the USS Saint Paul Association. A native of Southern California, Mike lived his last 20 years in Santa Cruz, a town he loved.
Among his many interests were table tennis -- he belonged to the U.S. Table Tennis Association -- body surfing, reading, movies and music, music, music. He was a big supporter of Public Radio and was known to many programmers at the local stations in Santa Cruz.
A celebration of his life will take place in Santa Cruz on a date to be announced later.
Contributions in Michael's honor should be made to the Santa Cruz SPCA
(http://www.santacruzspca.org/).
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Santa Cruz Sentinel obituary:
http://www.legacy.com/SantaCruzSentinel/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=113249891
