Michael O'Toole

Mike was born on June 25, 1939, in Stockton, CA, to John and Margorie O’Toole. His early years were spent growing up on the family ranch, Morningstar Farms, with his brother Mark until the family moved “to town” (Stockton). Mike attended St. Mary’s High School and graduated from California State University in 1962, while working as a police officer in Sacramento, CA.

Mike was an adventurous man, with a love of travel, piloting his own airplane, riding horses, playing sports, but he was happiest at the helm of a sailboat. Mike learned to sail from his father John when he was 14 and convinced him to buy the “fastest” sailboat. The Geisha was a 19’ one-of-a-kind boat with wood flanks, a spruce mast and boom, and an iron centerboard. Together with Mark, they competed in many a race on the San Juaquin River. Later, John upgraded to a Santana, the Sinn Fein, which they raced many years.

He met his first wife, Martha Hanlon, in Stockton in 1958. They married in 1962 and had three daughters, Mary, Tracy, and Jen. In 1963, Mike entered the Federal Service where he began travelling extensively for his career, including two years in Alice Springs, Australia, with his family before settling in Northern Virginia.

In 1976, he married his second wife, Patricia MacDougall who had two young children, Chris and Molly. They spent 3 years at the US Embassy in the Philippines before returning to Northern Virginia. In the mid-eighties, he was excited to purchase his first boat, a Cal-25 named the Alice May which he raced enthusiastically on the Chesapeake Bay.

While attending an executive program at Harvard in 1989, Mike met and married Diane Newcomb, his crewmate for life. Together they traveled the world making memories and lifelong friends. The spent several years in Panama before moving to Annapolis, MD, where they were happy to return to competitive sailboat racing. In 2013, they headed south for warmer weather and built a home and joined the sailing community in Ft. Pierce, Florida.

Mike is survived by his wife Diane O’Toole (Newcomb), his brother Mark O’Toole, his children Mary O’Toole, Tracy O’Toole, Jennifer O’Toole (Parsons), Chris MacDougall, Molly MacDougall, his niece AnnMarie O’Toole (Caldwell), eleven grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and his cat, Mr. Grey.

To all who knew him, Mike was the greatest storyteller and was fond of quoting Robert Service. Here is an excerpt from his favorite, The Cremation of Sam McGee; the namesake for his first boat, the Alice May.

There are strange things done in the midnight sun

By the men who moil for gold;

The Arctic trails have their secret tails

That would make your blood run cold;

The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,

But the queerest they ever did see

Was the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge

I cremated Sam McGee

~ Robert W. Service

Services are being held for Michael at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, November 14, 2023, at Aycock Funeral Home, 6026 North US Highway 1, Fort Pierce, FL 34946.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that a memorial donation be made to Arbor Tree (https://www.arborday.org/).

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.aycock-hillcrest.com for the O'Toole family.