Michael Wayne Spitler

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A celebration of the life of Michael Wayne Spitler will be held on April 7 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Pagosa Springs Center for the Arts in Pagosa Springs.

Friends of Michael and his family are invited to come and share memories of his life.

Michael Wayne Spitler was born on July 18, 1987, in Tulsa, Okla., the son of David and Pam (Bradshaw) Spitler. The family moved to Pagosa Springs, Colo., in 1999. Michael graduated from Pagosa Springs High School in 2006 and studied political science at Fort Lewis College for two years.

Michael was passionate about many things.

He loved baseball, golf, hiking, fly-fishing, camping, kayaking and disc golf. He worked many summers as a raft guide and was passionate about sharing our river with friends, family and visitors to Pagosa Springs. He was passionate about our mountains. He worked many winters at Wolf Creek as a ski tech and loved skiing and snowboarding.

He was passionate about music and had a beautiful voice.

He loved Mexico and the Sea of Cortez.

He was passionate about his family and friends. He was blessed with many friendships and impacted many lives with his sweet spirit. He brightened a room with his smile, his energy, his attitude, his humor and just his presence. He was a loving, kind, peace-filled, free spirit with curiosity of all things seen and unseen.

He struggled for years with mental illness. He tried to deal with it as hard as he could and wrote to one good friend, “I’m learning to live with my crazy better and better each day.” He met Chersti, who was the love of his life, who also shared that same struggle.

Michael was joined in death by his loving wife, Chersti (Berdahl) Spitler. He is survived by his parents, David and Pam, of Pagosa Springs; his sister, Sandy (Peter) Kane, of Denver; brothers Houston, of Norman, Okla.; Ryan (Lindsey), of Reno, Nev.; Aaron (Katie) Lauver, of Houston, Texas; aunts Christine McKinney and Mary Lynch, of Clarksville, Tenn.; Jeanne (Joe) Guerra, of Dallas, Texas; nieces and nephews Ben, Karis and Tommy Kane; Evelyn and Tommy Lauver; Seven Wall-Spitler; cousins Josh (Christina) and Andy (Amanda) Guerra and David (Christie) McKinney; along with many more cousins and friends.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), at www.nami.org.

From “Vincent” by Don McLean: “And when no hope was left in sight, On that starry, starry night, You took your life as lovers often do. But I could’ve told you,, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.”