He was born in Cape Girardeau, MO on August 1, 1948, in the wee hours of the morning. He was the son of Leon and Josephine Messmer, of Scott City, MO. He was a graduate of Notre Dame High School and went on to attend United Electronics Institute in Kentucky where his passion for all things electronics electrified.
Michael moved to Dallas, TX in 1968, when he went to work for Texas Instruments. From 1970-1974, he was also a member of the United States Air Force and served as a Sergeant. Michael retired from TI in 1997. He was married for eleven years, has three children and eight grandchildren. Michael cared for and loved everyone he knew. He also enjoyed volunteering at The Cathedral of Hope and singing in The Turtle Creek Chorale.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Leon and Josephine Messmer, brother Walter Messmer, nephew John Niederkorn, and dear friend and walking buddy Phillip Barnett.
Michael is survived by his children Leslie (Kevin) Dockery, their children Brittany, Victoria and Aaron, of Blue Ridge; Angela (Chris) Johnson, their children Sgt. Alexander Johnson (active duty United States Marine Corps), Zackary and Samuel of Wylie; Jeremy (Amber) Messmer, their children Ashlyn and Kaitlyn of Midlothian; sisters Marilyn (Morris) Welsh of Jackson, MO, and Diana (Robert) Westrich of Scott City, MO, sister in law Carol Messmer of Benton, MO; Aunt Rosemary Sanders of Houston, TX and many nieces, nephews and friends.
Michael never met an electronic device that he didn’t know how to repair or have a desire to know how it worked. On many occasions, he worked and repaired devices and had them up and running in no time. He instilled that love of “how does it work” in all of his kids and grandkids. In fact, his favorite questions were “why and how?”
Michael also loved music. He enjoyed listening, playing, reading and even singing all kinds of music, from Big Band to Country and Classical to Show Tunes. Many days, he played the music through the sound bar as loud as it could go! One of his favorite things was singing and volunteering with the Turtle Creek Chorale, where he was a lifetime member. Michael loved being part of the audio/visual team with The Cathedral of Hope where he continued his love of music.
We would like to thank his extended family who were part of his life at The Cathedral of Hope and The Turtle Creek Chorale. He spoke highly and lovingly about everyone from whom he called family. He loved every moment of his time with all of you.
There will be a Celebration of Life on June 2, 2023 at 5 P.M. at the Cathedral of Hope Church in Dallas. Interment will be a private ceremony at the DFW VA National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, Michael has asked that donations be made to Children with AIDS, any cancer organization, The Turtle Creek Chorale (TurtleCreekChorale.com or email mdilbeck@turtlecreek.org . Please mention Michael R. Messmer in the Memo line) or The Cathedral of Hope’s Pantry (https://www.cathedralofhope.com/give using “This Donation is For the CoH Pantry in honor of Michael R. Messmer” in the Memo line ).
“We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:8 (NCB)
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