Michael Michnick

Michael Joseph Michnick said his final goodbye to all on October 10, 2026, at his beloved home, which he designed and had built.

He was born at home in Chicago, Illinois, on March 5, 1933. His family moved to Wallace, Michigan, when he was two years old.

He graduated from Stephenson High School in 1951, then moved to Laramie, Wyoming, and graduated with a degree in engineering from the University of Wyoming in 1955. He had a short stint in the Army, released early after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik.

In 1958 he moved to Lawrence as a chemistry graduate assistant with the University of Kansas, taking his meals at Phi Kappa Theta, and met his wife, Charlyne McCluggage, at an Hour Dance with her sorority, Alpha Phi. They were married at St. John's Catholic Church on December 27, 1960.

Michael received his Ph.D. in chemistry at KU in 1964 and began a career in the petrochemical industry in St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked for 14 years. He moved back to Lawrence in January 1976 to join the Tertiary Oil Recovery Project at the KU Department of Petroleum Engineering. In 1988 he took a sabbatical to China as a foreign expert, sparking a love of travel that took him and Charlyne on tours through all 50 states, as well as countries around the world. On September 5, 2026, he celebrated with 6 classmates their 75th high school class reunion.

Michael's hobbies included stamp collecting, and he belonged to the Lawrence Stamp Club and the St. Louis Stamp Club. He was a 50-year member of the American Chemical Society. He loved working in his yard, feeding the birds and simply sitting and enjoying the nature around him. He played bridge with his buddies, and the Michnicks were a ‘fixture’ at the Genesis Fitness enjoying the swimming pool at 7:00 a.m., six days a week.

Michael and Charlyne were lifelong Jayhawk fans with season tickets for basketball (36 yrs) and football (26 yrs) and follow their broadcasts on radio/TV both home and away.

He is predeceased by his parents, Michael and Julia Michnick, and his siblings Olga, Naida, Tom and Sharon. He is survived by his wife, Charlyne; his children, Julie Workman and Steven (Marci) Michnick, and many nieces and nephews.

A funeral mass service will be held on Friday, October 23, 2026, at 1:30 pm at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center with a Celebration of Life to follow downstairs in the social room.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Kansas University Endowment Association, School of Chemistry; St. Lawrence Center Foundation, Lawrence, Kansas; University of Wyoming Foundation Petroleum Engineer Program and Physical Sciences.