Obituary - Arthur ‘Mike’ Michael Gorman
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Mike Gorman, age 73, was born September 18, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, to parents Arthur Martin Gorman and Eva Marie Gorman. He peacefully passed to our Lord April 17, 2025, at Weisbrod Hospital in Eads.
Mike’s father and his family were original homestead ranchers north of Cheyenne Wells starting in 1910 until after World War II. After the war, our dad sold the ranch and moved to Chicago and started an automobile dealership with his two brothers for many years until 1968.
Mike and his brother, Marty, were raised in Berwyn, Illinois. In 1968, dad, mom, Marty, and Mike all moved to Fort Collins. Mike went to and graduated from Fort Collins High School, then attended Colorado State University for a year. He then worked at the Charco Broiler restaurant in Fort Collins as a popular bartender.
He was an expert snow skier, and later worked as a ski instructor in Wisconsin and Arizona with his brother. Mike was a certified ski instructor with the Professional Ski Instructors of America – Rocky Mountain Division. He even managed to break his same thumb three times skiing in less than 12 months, having lots of ski instructors and ski patrol signatures on his casts. Later he became an over-the-road trucker and did part-time farming for his long-time friend, Dave Stromberger, east of Fort Collins.
Mike enjoyed boating, sailing, water skiing, camping, and motorcycling with his assortment of cruising motorcycles. In the mid 1970s, he had a great adventure motorcycling from Newport Beach, California, up the Highway 101California coast all the way to Seattle, Washington, where he visited friends and family. From there, he headed on to Canada, all the way to Banff and Calgary, then down to Montana and Flathead Lake. He camped in his tent along the way, and stayed in an occasional motel. He finally wound up back in Fort Collins, and we were all glad to see him! It was Mike’s “excellent adventure.”
He loved his dog “Bruiser,” an English short haired pointer, which he raised from a puppy; his 110 pound “lap dog.” Bruiser would somehow manage to get “skunked” almost every time we went camping in Wyoming, even managing one time to get skunked and porcupined at Pathfinder Reservoir! But we had great times with our Colorado-style pickup campers and our dogs Bruiser and Pepper.
Unfortunately, Mike had a major stroke in 2004 that left him paralyzed on the right side and unable to speak but one or two words, but he retained his sense of humor and memories. For 10 years he would run his electric wheelchair around Fort Collins, and on the hike and bike trails while in Spring Creek Assisted Living. He would go by wheelchair many blocks to Walmart and Kmart and get heavy bags of potting soil and flower seeds, wedging the bags between his feet on the footrests to make many pots of flowers around the large nursing home and assisted living facility, mostly outside. Folks loved it, and then he had to maintain and water it all. Our late sister and her late husband, Theresa and Denis Weber of Sheridan Lake, got to see all of Mike’s flowerpots and outside work around the parking lots at the Spring Creek facility.
Through the efforts of our precious sister, Theresa Weber, in helping to facilitate the development of Prairie Pines Assisted Living Community in Eads, in 2014, Marty moved Mike to Prairie Pines. For many more years, Mike helped beautify Prairie Pines from his wheelchair and also downtown Eads. He was often seen around town armed with his tools, trimming bushes that had overgrown sidewalks, general town beautification, and picking up stuff for dumpsters. He was even on the cover of the Kiowa County Press doing his work. In 2021, he was moved to Weisbrod Hospital in Eads for more specialized care.
We would like to most sincerely thank the exceptional caregiver staff, nurses, and doctors at Weisbrod Hospital for their compassionate care these last several years. We also most sincerely thank the staff at Prairie Pines Assisted Living Community for providing for Mike and his care. These people are truly Angels on Earth.
Mike leaves behind his brother, Marty and wife Terry Gorman of Montgomery, Texas, and their son Sean Gorman of Dickinson, Texas. Also, children of Theresa and Denis Weber, nephews Jerry Weber of Sheridan Lake, Ron Weber and wife Gloria of Quilcene, Washington, and nieces Connie Weber, Kathy Knutson, and Linda Cochran and husband Roger, all from the Denver area, and their families.
Mike was preceded in death by his parents; beloved sister, Theresa Weber; wonderful brother-in-law, Denis Weber; and his precious nephews, Gerald Weber, Curtis Weber, and Corby Knutson.
Arrangements are under the direction of Brown Funeral Home.
