Jimmy Dale "J.D." Michael

Nov. 17, 1941 - Jan. 3, 2018

A Celebration of Life service will be at 1 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 19 at Village Chapel Free Will Baptist Church, 1825 N. Central Ave., Ceres, for Jimmy Dale "J.D." Michael. He died Jan.3, 2018.

J.D. was born in Picher, Okla., and raised in different parts of Missouri. He eventually moved with his family to Hughson at the age of six. He attended Hughson schools and graduated from Hughson Union High School in 1959. He was known as "Chief", because of his Cherokee Indian heritage. At the age of 19, he felt the calling of God on his life; he then began attending Bible College and, after graduating, pastored churches in Northern and Central California.

J.D. has had different careers in his lifetime; along with being a mechanic and a police officer with Ceres Police Department in which he made lifelong friends that he had continued to remain in contact with. He left the Ceres Police Department in 1978 to become a truck driver and started his trucking career with Stan's Trucking, then working for other companies like International Paper and Ron Dias Trucking. J.D. drove till he was officially retired in November 2016.

He loved spending time with his family and telling them stories about the good old days, sharing the word of God and going to the coffee shop with his friends.

At the time of his passing he had been attending Richland Faith Assembly of God church in Ceres.

He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Joanne Michael; five children, Bill (Sheryl) Michael, Leslie (Dwayne) Jackson, Chad (Gina) Michael, Jennifer (Dan) Barr, and Julie Michael; 10 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren; and one younger brother, Robert (Bob) Michael of Washington.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Walter Howard and Loretta Michael; and one older brother, Howard (Howie) Michael.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Valley First Credit Union, Ceres to the "J.D. Michael Memorial."

-Ceres (Calif.) Courier
Wednesday, Jan 17, 2018