Obituary of Michael Sauerwein, Sr.

Michael Allen Sauerwein Sr., age 74 years, of New Port Richey, FL, died New Year’s morning at 5:45 a.m. at Madison Point—a long-term care facility—after a long and devastating battle with Alzheimer’s Disease/dementia. He was born in Camden, NJ on December 1, 1946 to the late Mildred Sauerwein (nee Perkins) and Harry Sauerwein, and grew up in Palmyra, NJ. He met the love of his life, Victoria Munson in 1964, and proposed to her pretty quickly! They married on July 2, 1966, two years after he joined the U.S. Navy. He served his country for seven years. After that, the happy couple settled in Palmyra where they raised three children. During his career, he held several jobs that he excelled at—winning various awards over the years. Mike was a loving and devoted husband and father who enjoyed renovating his home, camping, taking road trips to Florida with his family to visit his parents (driving straight through in his van he converted into a home on wheels!), working on his model railroads, jigsaw puzzles, fishing, singing in the church choir, and spending time with his family and friends. He is survived by his wife Victoria Sauerwein (nee Munson) of 54 1/2 years, three children, Sherry Baranek and husband Mark Baranek, Michael Sauerwein Jr. and wife Michelle, and Adam Sauerwein and wife Christine; and five wonderful grandchildren: Jake, Justin, and Jenna Baranek, Brenden Sauerwein, and Bentley Pettifer. He is also survived by two sisters, Sandy Brown (nee Sauerwein) and husband Tom Brown and Terry Darr (nee Sauerwein) and husband Dan Darr, and many nieces and nephews. In 2014, after years of living in both New Jersey and Florida, he retired with Vickie to Florida in 2014 and enjoyed much too brief a time with her when he first started suffering from this terrible disease. Because of COVID, there will be a small memorial service at Faith Baptist Church, New Port Richey, on January 14th, that will also be streamed on Facebook Live. Please contact a member of the immediate family if you wish to view the service. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association Florida Gulf Coast (located in Pinellas County, Florida via a check mailed to 14010 Roosevelt #709, Clearwater, FL 33762), or your local chapter.