With over 30 years of experience in sales, Michael brought a diverse spectrum of experience to his job. His years of working in the family restaurant business gave him tremendous insight into day-to-day operations of a business. That knowledge established in him the unique ability to understand and communicate with top level executives. It also gave him in-depth perspectives into the marketing of products and building of brands, one of the areas in which he excelled in our company. Michael was passionate about Hotsy Pacific and our products, something frequently mentioned by his customers upon hearing of his passing.

Michael never did anything halfway. Over the years, I had many conversations with him before 7:00 am as well as after 5:00 pm, weekends included. His devotion, dedication, and willingness to put in the extra effort were apparent every day. Despite his successes, he was humble and did not take credit for many of the milestones we achieved; it was always a team effort, believing in the ‘old school’ attitude that there is no “I” in “we”.

Above all, Michael did not want anyone to be aware of his health struggles or feel sorrow at his passing. He neither wanted nor needed the extra attention – that was just his way. I feel the loss personally, as we spoke almost every day for 7 years and became friends through the years. My heartfelt condolences go out to his wife Cynthia, as well as the rest of his family and friends.

Michael was and is part of our Hotsy Pacific Family. Terrence Anderson and I visited him the day before he passed. Forever the marketer, some of his last words to me were “Try as I might, I could never get you all to say Hotsy Pacific in our conversations; it was always just Hotsy.” You will be missed my good friend. Safe travels and I expect to see some advertising copy from above – and we’ll try to at least work that ‘Pacific’ in there.

– Jim O’Connell, President