Mike Winton Eulogy
May 3, 2008

Howard K. Bell, M.Div.

I join with all of you in grieving the loss of Mike Winton. I will miss him greatly. On behalf of everyone at Pathways – Board, volunteer, participants and friends, I want to express both our sympathy and our great love to you Penny. We all wish you well in your healing through this great loss; and our sincerest sympathy to all of Mike's family and friends.

Without Mike's personal journey with a life-threatening blood disease diagnosed nearly 30 years ago, Pathways simply would never have existed. On his healing path, Mike explored allopathic medicine, alternative medicine, psychological and emotional approaches, spiritual/metaphysical understandings and extensive use of complementary therapies. Once he and Penny learned of all these rich resources for healing, they committed themselves to assure that others in the state of Minnesota, and even beyond, would have access to these resources free of charge through Pathways.

Mike demanded excellence. His greatest passion about Pathways was that it would always remain “cutting edge” and that it fulfill its mission: “to provide programs that are designed to support a creative healing response to life-threatening illness”. Mike was always ready to share a story and speak about Pathways to anyone who would listen.

Mike loved being a participant at Pathways' programs. In the earlier years, I recall their regular participation in the Healing Circle, the Mindfulness Meditation group, many speaker events and, just a few years ago, the Imaging Immortality program. One of the highlights of Pathways and of their contributions was the 1999 national conference titled lifedeathafterdeath. While attending our Annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner, Mike would greet each volunteer personally and engage them in conversation and inquiry. Each person felt important and valued by this distinguished man.

It was a personal joy for me, to share my deepest, intense mentoring from Mike over the last 4 – 5 years as he chaired Pathways' Path to the Future campaign. This reserve fund is intended to assure that Pathways will have the capacity to continue beyond the Winton's financial support. Mike taught me that fundraising is about relationship building. I am in awe of the number of people who admired Mike, who cherished his friendship, and who generously shared their resources…per his request! And, I know, that Pathways was only one of the many non-profits who benefited so greatly by his skill and his passion.

Mike Winton's influence on the world was very wide and deep. All of you, here, know the many ways in which he touched your lives and, I imagine, always made you a better person because of his influence, his mentoring, his advice and wise counsel, and the multiple ways in which he showed his generosity.

However, it would not be in honor of Mike to sanctify him. He liked to cut through what he discerned as overly-detailed explanations…or was that only with me?,,, and he often used a language possibly not entirely fitting to replicate for this occasion. He wasn't in any way, afraid to challenge or disagree with you. Many of you can probably appreciate the challenge of having both Penny and Mike on a Board with an Executive Director wanting to be supportive to each of their perspectives. Yet, on a particular issue, they might be in total disagreement with each other. Despite these differences, they had a consistency of vision and a commitment to core values and principles that, not only created the unique organization that is Pathways, but also has sustained it over 20 years.

Finally, Pathways, has always held as one of its visions, that death not be seen as failure. As our bulletin board states, when someone dies, we consider them as “persons whose healing path included death”. Mike, you are on a new healing path. We wish you well. You will be greatly missed. You will be remembered with great affection and appreciation. Your influence lives on, each day, by those who are served by Pathways. Thank you.