Obituary

The extraordinary life of Michael Warren Senter came to a peaceful end on Sunday, July 28 at the age of 73. He passed away in his sleep at the UNC Hospice in Pittsboro with family by his side. Mike was preceded in death by his beloved wife Sandi Norton, with whom he shared his life for 40+ years, his mother Nora Ragan and his brother Vincent Wayne Senter. His humor, kindness and love will be forever remembered by sister Marsha S. Lovell, stepsons Jerry, Dan and John Sipp, Jerry’s fiancé Janet Boudreau, Dan’s wife Lee Galbreath, and John’s wife Nancy Sipp, step grandchildren Sterling, John, Grace Meade, Cameron, and Sabrina, and step greatgrandchildren Kodie and Nash (with another on the way), and Sandi’s sister Sue Norton, as well as a lifetime of dear and devoted friends.

Mike was born in Detroit and moved to Durham at the age of 6 months. He was unapologetic of his Southern drawl and proud to have lived and worked in the Triangle area for the rest of his days. He began his college career at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, NC then graduated from UNC, where he not only earned a degree, but also developed a lifelong obsession with Carolina basketball.

Though Mike became a paraplegic in a 1973 work-related accident, his tenacity never let that injury stop him from living his best life. He was immensely proud to have spent 36 years as a patient advocate and unit manager at Murdoch Center in Butner, helping to care for residents with physical and cognitive challenges. For 36 years, he’d wake at 5am, haul himself into his pickup, toss his wheelchair into the back, and off he’d go to help people who needed him.

Far from his only accomplishment, Mike and Sandi invested in residential real estate, rehabbing distressed properties, and co-owned Brightleaf Square’s Horizon Gallery, a fine arts and crafts shop, for over a decade. He brewed his own beer, planted beautiful vegetable gardens in his happy place (the sanctuary of their back yard,) was a loving doggie daddy to many rescue pups, was Sandi’s sous chef in the kitchen and the undisputed family grill master. On beach vacations, if you were looking for Mike, you need only peer out to sea, where you would find him swimming well beyond the breakers, having the time of his life.

His wheelchair, along with a shock of white hair in his later years, made Mike instantly recognizable. It seemed like you couldn’t go anywhere in Durham or Hillsborough without some old friend stopping him to say, “hey Mike!” and wanting to catch up. The family wishes to express their gratitude to Mike’s long list of close friends who stuck with him through thick and thin, with special thanks to Sharon Collins, Pat Garavaglia, Connie Baker, Judy Pickett, Rob and Barb Robertson, Becky Powell, Cheryl Groves, Maureen Crews, Staci Dombrowski, Bob and Roberta Wallace, Sandy Stallings and Dennis Boucher. We will always be grateful for the loving care that he received from the amazing staff at The SECU Jim and Betsy Bryan Hospice Center in Pittsboro.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation for the treatment and cure of paralysis caused by spinal cord injury and other neurological disorders. A Celebration of Life will take place in September; please check back to this page for further information.