Michael Corcoran Smith

Michael Corcoran Smith passed away at the age of 77 on November 6, 2024. Michael was born and raised in Orleans and was a graduate of Nauset Regional High School in 1965. At a young age, he started working for his parents Edward and Mary at their newspaper, the Oracle, and printing business, the Spider Web Press. Even at a young age, Michael’s superior printing talents were obvious to anyone who knows anything about the business. A printer salesman attempting to sell new equipment to Michael’s father said Michael was the best printer he’d ever seen, and he deserved the best equipment. Ever the perfectionist, Michael would print 1000 business cards to get 50 that he thought were good enough.

Michael held many roles at the paper and the print shop, including sweeping the floors at age 10. After his parents sold off the printing business in 1965 to focus on the newspaper, Michael built an addition on the building to make room for the equipment. Later, he was the head salesmen, spending hours every day driving all over the Cape selling the ads that paid for the paper’s operation. His warm smile, disarming personality, and friendly disposition made him a natural salesman.

Although he excelled as an ad salesman, Michael’s true passion came from building and working with his hands. After a brief period as a fisherman, until he put a 4-pound codfish jig through his hand. Michael came ashore and formed Cape Cod Home Improvement Company in 1977. The perfectionist qualities and eye for detail that brought him success as an offset printer served him well as a homebuilder and general contractor. Michael’s impressive body of work can be seen all over Orleans and the lower Cape, including the building serving as the home of Idle Times Bike Shop and the bar inside Mahoney’s Atlantic Grill, both in Orleans Center.

Those qualities also led him to the love of his life. In 1993, Michael was referred to a potential client who had recently moved to Chatham. It would prove to be a fortuitous visit as he and Margaret would spend the next 31 years together, laughing, loving, and dancing their way through life. The merriment of their lives brought joy to all who know them, and his passing leaves a hole for many that will never be filled.

There was no one with a bigger heart or who gave more of themselves than Michael Smith. His generosity knew no bounds and he spent his life taking care to various degrees of his parents, brothers, children and many others whom he loved and cared about.

An avid conversationalist, Michael could talk about politics in a manner that was thoughtful, respectful, and kind, so that even those who vehemently disagreed with him walked away from the conversation feeling they had made a friend. Michael knew that a great conversationalist not only speaks eloquently, but also listens actively. He was a fantastic listener and when chatting with newly met people most of what he said would come in the form of a question. He wanted to know what you were interested in, what your passions were. He was much more interested in hearing about you than talking about himself.

Michael is preceded in death by his parents Ed and Mary and his brother Tom. He is survived by Margaret Dodge, his life partner of thirty-one years; his three sons, Greg and wife Kerrin, Brian and wife Anna, and Jason and partner Anne Marie, all of Orleans; his former wife Paula of Orleans. He is also survived by his brother Jeff and wife Marilyn, and his brother Jim, both of Orleans. He loved his stepchildren, David Wade and wife Emily of Malibu, CA and Elizabeth Cairns and husband Nicholas of Baltimore, MD. He will be missed by his ten grandchildren, MacKenzie, Skylar, Evan, Genevieve, Savion, Theo, Isobel, Jessica, Nines, and Hannah as well as many nieces and nephews.

Viewing will be at Nickerson Funeral Home (77 Eldredge Park Way, Orleans 02653) on Thursday, November 14 from 3-6 pm. Funeral services will be held at St. Joan of Arc Roman Catholic Church (61 Canal Rd, Orleans) on Friday, November 15 at 11 am.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Michael’s name to the Sampson Fund for Veterinary Care.