Mike Berry:
CLASS OF 1970
Kennedy High SchoolClass of 1970
Denver, CO
Mike's Story
Mike's schools include Sabin Elementary, Kunsmiller Jr. High (Middle School) and most importantly, John F. Kennedy High School (JFK) After graduation, I bounced around to three different Universities. After being part of a National Championship in wrestling, I landed in San Diego, CA and attended Point Loma Nazarene University. After living on the beach for three years I earned degrees in Business Administration and Economics. Each year, at each school. I was part of the National Honor Society. I graduated #1 in the Business School and was awarded the Wall Street Journal Award as one of the top Business Students in the nation. I graduated with Summa Cum Laude honors.
My post graduate studies earned me an additional 8 Designations through various Universities around the country. After rejecting numerous Corporate positions, I was contacted by and eventually offered a management position with a firm that specialized in land development and custom home building. After a short stint with the company, I chose to branch out on my own into the Real Estate field. I was awarded a number of awards over my nearly 40 year career of Residential and Commercial Real Estate Brokerage, Residential Land Development & Custom Home Building. Throughout the years, some of my greatest enjoyment came from working with Investment Buyers, creating Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT's), as well as representing Banks and the property they owned or wished to purchase. At one point my companies represented 7 National Banks and I orchestrated all their properties in the Western U.S. states. When I chose to retire, I sold and/or liquidated my three companies and all the property owned.
During my athletic pursuits, I broke my back which has caused a great deal of pain for many years, up to the present. I stayed active coaching wrestling until 2020. I coached several State Champions and one National Champion.
Early in 2020 I was diagnosed with Stage 4, Grade 5, Cancer. Because of the severity and aggressive nature of the Cancer, the treatments started immediately. Making my way through the BLM and Antifa protesters on the way to the hospital each day for my daily treatments, combined with the then-newly enacted Covid lockdown and restrictions, made the Summer & Fall of 2020 the longest and most turbulent of my life (so far). For some reason, I have experienced major side-effects, both physical and mental because of the drugs and other treatments. My hope is that after the treatments end, I will return to normal, especially my mental cognition and recall.
(I got really stupid, really fast!!)
If all goes well, treatment will continue for the upcoming 2-2.5 years. If all does not go well, at least I know I am going to Heaven, and I will be greeted by Jesus himself. The fact that I know God is still in control, allows me to sleep at night. However, while still ...Expand for more
on this earth, having absolutely 0.00 energy does not fit in with my plans!! It does however, seem to be the rule for my foreseeable future.
My ending thought:
Today is Thanksgiving day, 2020. I am spending it alone, just as I have for the past 23 years. I hope each of you are having a wonderful and memorable day, hopefully with family!!
My wish for each of you, my friends & classmates, is that you will experience only success and happiness from this point forward in your life. More importantly, I pray that you will have the opportunity to come face-to-face with your creator, the creator of the universe and all else that exists .....God. Knowing that an all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful God cares for me and my problems, on a highly personal level, gives me a peace that surpasses all understanding. The knowledge that I can be absolutely assured of living all eternity in the presence of God and his Son, Jesus, is the most exciting, most rewarding, and meaningful opportunity I can even imagine!! The fact is, I don't deserve anything because I have led a life far, far from what God would have for me. However, because of unlimited GRACE offered by God, all our "debts" have been paid by the sacrifice made by God's son, Jesus. All we have to do is to accept God's gift to us, and turn from our sinful ways. This is also the ONLY WAY to escape the final judgment of our lives, after we die, and the ultimate punishment of spending all eternity in HELL. During our lives, each individual must make a conscious decision where they will spend eternity. If we do not make a choice to serve God, that is a choice in itself, ending in an eternity in HELL. At the end of our days, there will only be two places where we will spend eternity. HEAVEN OR HELL. There is only one sane choice that makes any sense at all!! This is the one issue that I am most concerned about for each of us. So many of our friends and classmates have already died, because of a myriad of different reasons, many of which were very sad..
Make a choice today, the right choice, so that you can live the rest of your life knowing without doubt where you will spend eternity, regardless of what you may face in the future. You can absolutely know, without any doubt, that upon your death, you will be welcomed into HEAVEN and the awe-inspiring presence of God. (This sure beats the alternative!!) Oh and, at some point, you WILL die...trust me on this one!!
Thank you for taking the time to remember me and to read my Bio.
Until we all see each other again, I want all of my JFK classmates to know how deeply I care for each of you!! It is really odd, I do not have any negative memories of our years at JFK. Nope, just unlimited positive memories.
I would love to hear from any (all) of you through this site, by Text Message, or by Telephone.
YOUR FRIEND,
MIKE BERRY
JFK Class of 1970
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