Obituary
One of the world’s great lights is no longer with us. Michael Psarakis, commonly known to those who loved him as “Mickey”, died at The Villages Regional Hospital in The Villages, Florida on Sunday, October 3, 2021, with his wife and family at his side. He was born in the Bronx, New York, on August 22, 1946, to George J. Psarakis and Mettie Towery Psarakis.
Mickey had a passion for living, learning and tap dancing with his sister as a youngster. He graduated from Mount Saint Michael Academy, administered by the Marist Brothers, a teaching order of Monks, and Manhattan College in Riverdale, New York. Following college, Mickey worked for North American Phillips Co. installing motion picture projectors for major airlines. Ironically, Mickey’s love for movies and storytelling married well with this work.
In the 1970’s, Mickey moved to Miami, Florida where he worked for the JC Penny Co. at Omni International Mall. He later moved to Seffner, Florida where he assisted his stepfather in the development and sales of the Shangri-La subdivision. Later, he moved to Brandon, Florida where he managed the Geiger Real Estate office and ultimately built his own real estate businesses, including a real estate licensing school, and met his true love, his wife Carolyne. Mickey went on to serve as the Senior Real Estate Coordinator for the City of St. Petersburg where he was involved with several extraordinary real estate transactions, including the Dali Museum and the sale of Weeki Wachee Springs.
Following his retirement in 2016, Mickey and his wife moved to The Villages, Florida. He served as the President of the Condo Owners Association where he managed to bring people together in his kind and gentle way. Friends and neighbors shared that Mickey was funny, competitive, yet humble, with a great sense of humor. In fact, he had one of the best laughs in the world. He enjoyed golfing with his friends on “the street” and being a member of “The Wednesday Night Poker Loser Team.” He was a special uncle to his four nephews always giving excellent advice heralding from his heart, his own life experiences, and his extensive knowledge, often referred to as his “Jeopardy” brain. He loved all of the family’s many furry companions, especially sweet little Coco and his first dog Arnie. In addition to Mickey’s extensive love and knowledge of movies (where he expected everyone to stay to the end of the credits to catch the “Easter Egg”), he and his wife loved their many coast-to-coast road and camping trips exploring all the wonderful National Parks in our beautiful country. This past summer, Mickey and his wife joined several other friends from “the street” in Logan, Utah, for an amazing three-month adventure.
Mickey is survived by his loving wife of nearly 40 years, Carolyne; Scialdone nephews Stephen, Michael (Nancy), Ricky and Greg (Jennifer); great nieces and nephews Matthew, Amanda Nyberg (Caleb), Nicholas, Sebastian, Brianne and Josephine; sister-in-law, Edna McCown (Nancy); stepsister, Diane Zegan; and countless close friends and neighbors.
He is preceded in death by his mother, Mettie; father, George; stepmother, Olga; sister, Marilyn Scialdone; and stepsister Teresa Hasson.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in the name of E. Michael Psarakis to Mount Saint Michael Academy, Office of Advancement, 4300 Murdock Ave, Bronx, NY 10466.
The Villages lost one of the great ones.
Sending love and prayers
Patricia
His loss is a major one to all of us, and I will miss him greatly.
He was first and foremost my Uncle, my mothers half brother. And served it very well, from earliest memories of 'babysitting' us during my parents annual trips over my birthday. A fave uncle moment in these times was a 13th birthday trip with me, my brothers and best friends to Six Flags Great Adventure..starting with his homemade pancake breakfast for all of us, and 2 hour road trip in the caprice Estate Station Wagon.
Of all my trips to visit Uncle Mickey in Florida was one I took with my friend Corrie (we were 14 and 15 at the time), and he put us on a Greyhound bus in downtown Tampa with a handwritten note and his Amex card to Orlando for two nights at the Howard Johnsons just outside the Walt Disney Parks.
He made me ride my first roller coaster (Python at Busch Gardens) although he and my brother had to ride it six times before I got on....and I never wanted to get off after that!
My first time tasting liquor (some cheap vodka), doing laundry (bleaching everything), and getting first hand experience at 'bachelor life' was thanks to Uncle Mick.
Uncle Mick was one to tell it like it is, full of facts - both worthy and nonsensical but always interesting.
Playing games was always fun with Uncle Mick at the table..one could NEVER win at Trivial Pursuit with him, just full and I mean FULL of knowledge, it's a wonder he never went on the show Jeopardy. Farkle was definitely one of our fave games!
Holiday's with Uncle Mick made that time of year just that much more special....as we dealt with numerous family members passing over holiday seasons, Mick was there to console, hug, talk, remember. Uncle Mick actually took the time to document many many memories from video to DVD, so we could always 'remember' the good and fun experiences...that was very important!!
I loved that about Uncle Mickey....he could talk about anything and everything, or you could just have the best time watching tv in silence together.
MOvies Movies movies....i grew to love going to and sitting in movie theaters because of Micks love for the movie and theater experience....especially staying through the end credits to catch an 'easter egg' if we could.
Festivals festivals festivals - Mick was always in for a good festival, food, music, arts, people watching...it was like a sport and he always made it that much more fun...never had i ever seen anyone chug Goldschlager as he did one Gasparilla fest we met at, my friends were in awe (or shock).
Advice - I went to Uncle Mick for every sort of advice and feedback, I wanted to know how he felt or thought about decisions I was pondering. Buying my first car, my first house, jobs and career moves, love and relationships (Uncle Mick was the very first family member I came out to - thanks to him noticing and commenting on my Birkenstocks sandals). I moved to Florida partly because of Uncle Mick--- I knew if anything had gone awry or did not turn out as expected, I could always rely on Uncle Mick (fortunately I made some amazing friends on day 1 of college, but his home, visits, and washing machine came in so handy!)
I can go on and on, but as you can see Uncle Mickey was more than an Uncle, he was my father figure when my dad passed away, he was my oldest brother living so close, he was my BEST FRIEND who always had my back and can be relied on time and time again. And there was absolutely never a time when I could NOT have a smile on my face when Uncle Mick was around....laughing, sometimes belly ache laughing, was infectious ...its just the way it was.
I will continue to be reminded of the amazing impact Uncle Mick had on my life and others. I never knew of anyone that had anything other than amazing words and thoughts to share about Uncle Mickey....and that will continue to make me smile!
Love always and forever - your 3rd nephew,
Ricky
He was first and foremost my Uncle, my mothers half brother. And served it very well, from earliest memories of 'babysitting' us during my parents annual trips over my birthday. A fave uncle moment in these times was a 13th birthday trip with me, my brothers and best friends to Six Flags Great Adventure..starting with his homemade pancake breakfast for all of us, and 2 hour road trip in the caprice Estate Station Wagon.
Of all my trips to visit Uncle Mickey in Florida was one I took with my friend Corrie (we were 14 and 15 at the time), and he put us on a Greyhound bus in downtown Tampa with a handwritten note and his Amex card to Orlando for two nights at the Howard Johnsons just outside the Walt Disney Parks.
He made me ride my first roller coaster (Python at Busch Gardens) although he and my brother had to ride it six times before I got on....and I never wanted to get off after that!
My first time tasting liquor (some cheap vodka), doing laundry (bleaching everything), and getting first hand experience at 'bachelor life' was thanks to Uncle Mick.
Uncle Mick was one to tell it like it is, full of facts - both worthy and nonsensical but always interesting.
Playing games was always fun with Uncle Mick at the table..one could NEVER win at Trivial Pursuit with him, just full and I mean FULL of knowledge, it's a wonder he never went on the show Jeopardy. Farkle was definitely one of our fave games!
Holiday's with Uncle Mick made that time of year just that much more special....as we dealt with numerous family members passing over holiday seasons, Mick was there to console, hug, talk, remember. Uncle Mick actually took the time to document many many memories from video to DVD, so we could always 'remember' the good and fun experiences...that was very important!!
I loved that about Uncle Mickey....he could talk about anything and everything, or you could just have the best time watching tv in silence together.
MOvies Movies movies....i grew to love going to and sitting in movie theaters because of Micks love for the movie and theater experience....especially staying through the end credits to catch an 'easter egg' if we could.
Festivals festivals festivals - Mick was always in for a good festival, food, music, arts, people watching...it was like a sport and he always made it that much more fun...never had i ever seen anyone chug Goldschlager as he did one Gasparilla fest we met at, my friends were in awe (or shock).
Advice - I went to Uncle Mick for every sort of advice and feedback, I wanted to know how he felt or thought about decisions I was pondering. Buying my first car, my first house, jobs and career moves, love and relationships (Uncle Mick was the very first family member I came out to - thanks to him noticing and commenting on my Birkenstocks sandals). I moved to Florida partly because of Uncle Mick--- I knew if anything had gone awry or did not turn out as expected, I could always rely on Uncle Mick (fortunately I made some amazing friends on day 1 of college, but his home, visits, and washing machine came in so handy!)
I can go on and on, but as you can see Uncle Mickey was more than an Uncle, he was my father figure when my dad passed away, he was my oldest brother living so close, he was my BEST FRIEND who always had my back and can be relied on time and time again. And there was absolutely never a time when I could NOT have a smile on my face when Uncle Mick was around....laughing, sometimes belly ache laughing, was infectious ...its just the way it was.
I will continue to be reminded of the amazing impact Uncle Mick had on my life and others. I never knew of anyone that had anything other than amazing words and thoughts to share about Uncle Mickey....and that will continue to make me smile!
Love always and forever - your 3rd nephew,
Ricky