Michael Joseph Truax

He was born on January 26, 1954 in Martinsville, Indiana. He was the oldest of four children, raised by loving parents, Jean and Jack. Mike went to college at General Motors Institute (Kettering) in Lancing, Michigan from 1977. He studied mechanical engineering, had a passion for cars, and made life-long friends in the ATO Fraternity. He then received his Master’s of Science in Industrial Administration at Purdue from 1979 and worked as an Engineer for GM. To celebrate his graduation he purchased his beloved CJ7 Jeep. In 1984, at age 30, he drove his Jeep to Fremont, California to begin work at New United Motors (NUMMI).

Mike met Linda in 1984 at NUMMI, and they married in 1987. Mike fell in love with the California outdoors. They hiked and backpacked through Yosemite and the Sierras, sailed the SF Bay, and he taught Linda to ski. Their daughter Emily was born in 1993, they moved to Pleasanton, and they gave birth to their son Joseph in 1998. When NUMMI shut down in 2010, Mike continued to work for Toyota, and he, Linda, and Joe moved to Cincinnati while he worked at Toyota HQ in Kentucky. Emily was in her Junior year at Cal UC Berkeley. He and Linda then moved to Long Beach in 2016, and he became President at Toyota TABC until he retired in 2021.

Mike loved to travel and explore nature with friends. Just to name a few, he traveled to Hawaii, Alaska, and the Rhine River with dear friends, Patagonia with his daughter, kayaked by the sea otters in Monterey with Linda, and backpacked up Half Dome with his son. He loved daily walks to hit his 20,000 daily step count goal along the coast in Rancho Palos Verdes and The Presidio in San Francisco. He counted every step and took pictures of the most beautiful sunsets. He also had a love of birds: he’d watch them through binoculars and try to identify what was soaring above.

Most of all, Mike loved his family and would do anything for them. He is survived by his wife Linda, his children Emily, Joseph, future son-in-law James, siblings Mary (George) Arnold, Kathy Marker, and Kim (Rick) Garner, 13 nieces and nephews, and 15 grandnieces and grandnephews.

We know that Mike is in Heaven, reunited with his beloved mother and father.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Mike’s memory may be made to the following organizations:

Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (https://alaskawildlifeconservation-bloom.kindful.com/?campaign=1234699)

Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (https://secure.parksconservancy.org/site/SPageNavigator/Tribute_Memorial_Gift.html?_gl=1*18upitt*_gcl_au*NDM2MDk5MzAzLjE3MzYxODg4NTg.*_ga*MTA2MTg3Mzc5NC4xNzM2MTg4ODU5*_ga_D50S6PV0QJ*MTczNjE4ODg1OC4xLjAuMTczNjE4ODg1OC4wLjAuMA)

U.S. Vets Long Beach (https://usvets.org/donate/long-beach/)

If you’d like to attend Mike’s service, below is the information:

Friday January 31, 2025 @ 1pm PT

Location: San Francisco Columbarium & Funeral Home

Address: 1 Loraine Ct, San Francisco, CA 94118

If you plan to attend, we recommend you dress warm, as it’s chilly this time of year in San Francisco.

We will also have a livestream link for those who cannot attend in person. You can join it here:

https://www.viewlogies.net/san-francisco-columbarium/hZxaqfb4a?pin=202993