John Michael King, "Mike", passed away on Sunday, January 16 ^th in DeKalb after a months long battle to recover from an injury to his back.

Mike was born in 1936 to Alice and Albert "Bud" King of Navarre, Ohio, a small town south of Akron in Amish country. His dad was a salesman, but Mike was drawn to working with sound equipment while in high school, which led to working with the local radio station. When barely 21 years old, he was recruited by KYW, a radio and TV station in Cleveland, to be the engineer for one of the popular DJs. These were heady times in radio as rock'n'roll started its ascendance in Cleveland and Motown Records in Detroit.

When the radio station's ownership changed, Mike took a year to work at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio, in charge of keeping the arcade games working. In Chicago in the early sixties, WCFL radio was challenging powerhouse WLS radio, and management lured Mike to the station to be chief engineer. During this time, Dick Orkin created the "Chickenman" series, a spoof of the Batman TV show. Mike was the "wind beneath his wings" on this project, finishing the production and sound effects at night so the shows could be aired the next day.

After a while, being in an adult in a teenager's fantasy grew old, and Mike moved on to Joy Recording in Chicago and started his long award winning career in sound for radio and TV commercials. From Joy Recording he went to Universal Recording to staff a newly opened Studio 8 in the Prudential Building. In 1975, Alan Kubicka brought Chicago Recording Company into being on Michigan Avenue, and one of his first actions was to hire Mike to run a postproduction studio.

Mike also had a number of what now would be termed "side hustles" – doing sound reinforcement for visiting acts, traveling to do sound for the performers on the convention circuit, and putting in sound and video equipment as an A/V consultant. He installed equipment at both the William Wrigley Jr. Company and at the Wrigley residences. Working at their Lake Geneva residence one day, Bill Wrigley asked Mike why he didn't start his own recording studio and where would he put it. Mike responded "Maybe the Wrigley Building?" "Well, you know the owner," Bill said. So in 1988, Mike opened ARU Chicago and ran it for twenty successful years before selling in 2008 to two of the engineers, Mark Zeboski and Don Arbuckle, and it is still in the business of making commercials and adding sound to video.

Mike's inventiveness and work ethic was matched by his humor. When interviewing new hires at ARU, we had to ask, "What do you think of people who make puns?" And there had to be a positive answer. He was still charming people, even at the nursing center where he was these last few difficult months.

Susan and Mike were members of St. Paul's UCC Church and Atonement Lutheran Church in Barrington, and Hope Lutheran Church in Long Grove, Illinois. Mike was a faithful servant in setting up sound systems and running the sound for services at each church. He also was involved in sound reinforcement and recording of the Barrington Children's Choir, and sound for Barrington High School musicals for several years. He joined Salem Lutheran Church in Sycamore when they moved to Genoa, but had to retire the headphones as age caught up with him. His faith was strong and he was always ready to help anyone. As a dear friend said of him, "Mike had the kindest heart and seemed to me closer to the Spirit of the Lord than just about anyone I've known."

Mike's family of four daughters, Debbie, Kathy, Margie, and Michelle, and first wife Mary moved with him from Cleveland to the Chicago area where daughter Melissa was born. As many sadly find, career stress can impact a relationship, and Mike and Mary divorced. Mike met his second wife Susan at Studio 8 and they married in 1974 and settled in Barrington, IL. With Susan, Mike fathered two more daughters, Allison and Lizzie. He was very proud of these seven wonderful women, and he was a proud grandpa to ten grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. They shared his love of model railroads, pinball machines, pendulum clocks, and puns.

Mike is survived by his wife Susan of Genoa, IL,; daughters Debbie Ward of Princeton; IL, Kathy King of Delaware, OH; Margie (Tom) Vleck of Palatine, IL; Michelle (Kevin) Barrett of Cary, IL; Melissa (James) O'Hara of Hampshire, IL; Allison King of Chicago, IL; and Lizzie (Jake Crumbine) King of Enfield, NH. He also is survived by his sister, Alice Marie King of Loveland, CO and brother Leonard (Linda) King of Danville, KY. Many, many friends also mourn his passing.

A memorial service is being planned at Hope Lutheran Church, 1660 Checker Road in Long Grove, Illinois on Saturday, February 26 ^th , at 11:00 am. There will be a capability of streaming the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Genoa-Kingston Rescue Squad in care of the Butala Funeral Home and Crematory, 1405 DeKalb Ave., Sycamore, IL. 60178.

To sign the online guest book or share a special memory-  go to www.ButalaFuneralHomes.com