Longtime Nevada resident and former Pershing County Roads Superintendent Mike DeWitt died Monday after a short illness. He was 82 years old.
He was born in Phoenix, Ariz., on March 2, 1940.
His father was a carpenter and moved around the West during World War II building internment camps.
After the war, the family settled in South Lake Tahoe, where Mike attended school and became an avid skier and all-around athlete.
He belonged to the Heavenly Valley Blue Angels ski team coached by the famous Olympian Stein Eriksen.
He was working toward a spot on the Olympic team when he broke his leg in a nasty ski accident prior to the Squaw Valley Olympics.
After the accident, he traded his skis in for a horse and rope and became a well-known team roper, particularly with his big, palomino head horse Freight Train. Later, he became an avid trap shooter.
He worked all across Nevada for Helms Construction for 17 years before becoming Pershing County Roads Supervisor. He married Casey Bartorelli on Dec. 26, 1975. He retired from the road department at age 66 and devoted his spare time to chukar hunting and trap shooting.
He was an active member of the Flying Saucer trap club in Lovelock.
He is survived by his wife, Casey of Lovelock; sons, Michael Kincheloe of Lovelock, Michael Popejoy of Verdi and Jimmy DeWitt of Escallon, Calif.; seven grandchildren; and nine great-grandkids.
He was preceded in death by another son, Lawrence Michael DeWitt.
Services were held Saturday, Nov. 19, at the Catholic Hall in Lovelock, 865 11th St.
In leu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Flying Saucer,1550 Airport Road, Lovelock, Nev. 89419; St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital; or the charity of your choice.
