Michael Forrest "Mike" Deaner, 81, of Jay, New York, passed away on Friday, October 23, 2026.

Mike was born April 24, 1945, in Tecumseh, Michigan, to Clifford and Marie Deaner, the second of four children: Fred, Mike, Mark and Mary Beth. Tecumseh was an idyllic place to grow up. He walked to school every day, ran track and played the trombone. He was a devoted older brother, and he and his sister Mary Beth were always in constant contact.

Mike was remarkably intelligent. He was accepted to MIT but chose to study electrical engineering at the University of Michigan. University life was not for him, and in April 1965 he enlisted in the United States Navy. He served sixteen years, rising to electronics technician first class. His first enlistment took him to Antarctica with Operation Deep Freeze, which supplied the American research stations there, and then to the Naval Communication Station in Morocco, and he returned there in his next enlistment. In his final enlistment he trained in the encryption systems that kept the fleet's communications secure. His decorations included the Antarctica Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and three Navy Good Conduct Medals. The Navy took him around the world. He had a gift for languages and loved practicing his fluent German and Moroccan Darija.

Morocco gave Mike his family. While stationed there he met the extraordinary Fatima, who became his wife, and he became a father to her sons, Mouhsine and Hicham. Their daughter, Laura, was born there, in Kenitra. They lived in a ranch-style house with a garden he talked about for the rest of his life. He loved Kenitra and never wanted to leave, and he was among the last sailors there when the United States closed the station in 1977.

Their first stop in the United States was Tecumseh, in deep winter snow, where his parents were delighted to meet them. Navy life then took them to Augusta, Georgia; San Diego, California; and Groton, Connecticut, where he finished his service at the Naval Submarine Support Facility. Afterward Mike worked at the nuclear power plant in Forked River, New Jersey, and they made a happy home in Bayville, where he coached Mouhsine and Hicham's soccer team and became known to everyone as Coach Mike. They moved to Norfolk, Virginia, to be near Fatima's sister Hafida. Hafida's son Farouk joined the family, and Mike was a father to him from then on. There Mike and Fatima also owned and operated a restaurant together, the Recovery Room. Fatima was the heart and matriarch of the family, and she made sure all the children had the best life possible in their new country; even after their marriage ended, she and Mike remained devoted to and supportive of each other.

After the restaurant closed, Mike learned carpentry, and it became a lifelong craft. When his father was diagnosed with cancer, Mike moved home to Tecumseh and cared for him for years, studying programming at a local community college along the way. After his father's passing he joined Laura in Delaware and then followed her to Brooklyn, making her homes beautiful with his woodwork and tiling. He later lived on the boardwalk in Coney Island, and the family treasures the sunrise photos he took on the beach. Around the time of the pandemic he moved upstate to Jay for good. Decades after the garden in Kenitra, he finally had one of his own. He grew everything from watermelons and peppers to blueberries, and he was as happy when the deer helped themselves as when he harvested.

Wherever everyone lived, Thanksgiving and Christmas were spent together. There were frequent trips to Greensboro, North Carolina, to see Hicham and his wife, Christienne, especially after their children were born, Brianna in 1996 and Brandon the following year. Mike walked the streets of Brooklyn with Laura's baby son, Zayne, in a carrier on his chest, making the whole neighborhood smile, and later pushed Zayne and his brother, Aden, around in a double stroller. When Zayne and Aden started at Mark Twain, the local middle school, he picked them up every day and brought them home, often with their friends in tow and Mike became known as the "middle school Grandpa". He adored his twin grandsons, Ismail and Isaac, and loved taking them to the neighborhood parks and spoiling them rotten. Upstate, he taught his grandsons to fish and, when his health allowed, joined them on hikes. Each of his six grandchildren had a place in his heart. He was so proud of them all.

In his last years he traveled with family and friends: to Spain, Portugal and Puerto Rico; and, most meaningfully, to Marrakesh, a return to the country where he met Fatima and where his daughter was born. A chance to connect the whole family to its roots.

He is survived by his daughter, Laura Deaner, and her husband, Murray Schwalbaum; his son Mouhsine Moudden; his son Hicham Moudden and his wife, Christienne; his son Farouk Guamassi; his grandchildren, Brianna and Brandon Moudden, Zayne and Aden Weller, and Ismail and Isaac Schwalbaum; and his sister, Mary Beth Jean, and her husband, Rick. He was predeceased by his parents, Clifford and Marie Deaner; his brothers, Fred and Mark; and Fatima, the mother of his children.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, November 7 at 10:00 AM at Heidrick-Zaumetzer Funeral Home in Au Sable Forks, with private interment to follow at Haselton Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Jay Volunteer Fire Department.