[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 98 (Monday, July 24, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1500]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HONORING MIKE JUNE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL BILIRAKIS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 24, 2006

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mike June, a man of 
tremendous courage and spirit who recently passed away.
  Michael John June was many things to many people. He was a son. He 
was a husband. He was a father. He was a brother. He was a friend. All 
who knew and loved him will tell you that he was as kind-hearted, 
generous, and unselfish an individual as there ever was.
  Mike also was a constituent of mine, and a hard-nosed football coach 
at Palm Harbor University High School, near my congressional district. 
Mike was always determined and focused on winning, though he cared 
deeply for his players and wore his emotions on his sleeve. He 
sometimes cried, after both wins and losses, but often displayed the 
trademark smile that lurked just below his handlebar mustache, 
especially when his players performed as he knew they could.
  Mike also had an ebullient personality and can-do attitude. He was 
diagnosed with leukemia in November 2002, yet was coaching his boys the 
following season. His best friend and former college roommate observed 
that, ``it seemed like there was nothing that could get him down.'' 
Mike kept coaching and teaching, even when his cancer returned and his 
doctors told him that he was risking death by doing so. He did so 
because, as one of his former players has commented, ``he loved to give 
what he had.''
  Those who cared for Mike in his final days have said that, despite 
his serious illness, he did not pity himself or lament the hand he had 
been dealt. In fact, when asked how he was doing, he always replied 
``excellent.''
  Mr. Speaker, Mike June loved his wife Paula, and his children Mike, 
Max, Matthew, Mitchell, and Mia. I hope the sadness that they and those 
who cared about him feel at his passing will one day be eclipsed by the 
joy of knowing that his legacy will live on in those who were fortunate 
enough to have known him. May God bless his soul and may He watch over 
his family.

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