After graduation, Mike enlisted in the Army and serviced in the Vietnam War. It was an honor for him to serve his country and ended his military career as a Buck Sergent. He returned to finish and graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with a degree in business. Mike worked as a salesman in Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas. He has a grocery store in Colorado where he tired of the snow. Mike purchased a boat rental facility in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. After a hurricane destroyed much of the Virgin Islands in 1995, Mike returned to Colorago and sales before settling in Amarillo , Texas. Mike was skilled in many things and built a home on Greenbelt Lake where he enjoyed retirement, gardening and fishing.