Michael Gajadhar

Born June 25, 1943 to Byron and Doris Gajadhar on the island of Trinidad and Tobago, Michael led a remarkable journey through life. After graduation, he taught elementary school in Trinidad for seven years. There he met his young bride, Sue and they both were married in 1968. In 1969 Michael and Sue migrated to New York City, where they both worked on Wall Street in the banking industry. After two and half years of cold, sleet and snow, they relocated to the warmth of Miami, Florida to be with their first-born son, Ronald, who was staying with Sue’s parents in Miami.

Michael and Sue lived in North Miami from 1971 to 1975 and both continued careers in the banking industry. Tara, their only daughter was born in Miami in 1974. In 1975, having lived in flat, buggy, humid Miami, they got the moving bug and decided to relocate to near the Pocono Mountains in Northeastern Pennsylvania. There, together with Michael’s banking buddy Jim, they opened a furniture store, subsequently growing the business to three locations. In Pennsylvania, Michael and Sue had two more boys, Rudy and Mark.

After the sudden death of Jim, Michael’s business partner, Michael and Sue decided to sell the business and relocated to Seattle in December 1981, where most of Sue’s family lived. It was in Seattle, Michael started his insurance career as a sales agent, subsequently to sales management with the Equitable of New York. From 1983 to 1997, Michael held various sales management positions with the Equitable of New York, New York Life, Century Companies of America and CUNA Mutual running very successful agencies. He was an industry leader, holding many leadership positions including the President of General Agency Management Association in the Seattle area.

Michael retired in 1997 and after a brief 5-month stint at retirement and the beckoning of Herb Hossfeld and Chuck Chambers, he joined Allstate as an independent consultant. In those days, Michael and Herb (who coincidentally shared the same birthdate), jointly ran the financial services operation for the region. They covered five states (WA, OR, ID, AK, and HI) all by themselves.

When Allstate Financial Services was formed in 2000, Michael joined Allstate as a Financial Services Consultant. He continued in that role until 2006 when a reorganization occurred, and he became a Financial Sales Development Consultant. In both roles, Michael was instrumental in recruiting, hiring, and training several very successful Financial Servicers for their region. Michael dedicated his career to many successful agencies and helped many succeed. He always had a smile and warm greeting when he entered an agency. Both the staff and agency owners he interacted with looked forward to having Michael call on them. He always brought great ideas and great energy to any situation he was involved with.

If you met him, you would never forget Michael. You could hear his hardy laugh from a quarter mile

away. Michael would do anything he could to help others succeed. He helped partners work together for the good of all parties.

Michael was a loving husband and father of four. He was fortunate enough to see all four of his kids get married and cherished the time he would spend with his many grandchildren. He is survived by his devoted spouse Sue, his loving children Ron, Tara, Rudy and Mark and his dearest grandchildren Amber, Aunika, Isabella, Valentina, Drew, Niko, Saara and Joylyn.

A funeral service for Michael will be held Friday, December 30, 2022 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM at Acacia Memorial Park & Funeral Home, 14951 Bothell Way NE, Seattle, WA 98155, followed by a reception from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.acaciafuneralhome.com for the Gajadhar family.