Home > News > The Passing of a Paralympic Icon: Mike Dempsey

The Passing of a Paralympic Icon: Mike Dempsey

Mike Dempsey as the flag bearer

  Some of you may have heard that last week Mike Dempsey passed away. Mike usually came to the club on Saturday afternoons and was (and still is) a great inspiration to disabled table tennis players everywhere. He will be greatly missed. Here is a letter written about Mike by someone who was close to him the day he passed away that explains what happened:    
Dear Friends, It is with an aching heart that I write this email about Mike Dempsey. Michael passed away this morning from an aneurysm in his brain. He was in Ohio for business at the time. It was very sudden and unexpected. I spoke with Shannon, Mike’s wife, just an hour ago and she asked that I let people know about the services that will be held for Michael. She told me that Michael had played a table tennis match on Sunday, with his 6 year old son, Henry, watching him win the last of 4 tough games. He left Monday for his business trip, attended a meeting on Tuesday and then had to go to the hospital after the meeting was finished. Shannon flew out with Henry yesterday and Michael passed away this morning. Shannon asked me to help her out with letting people know would be very grateful if you would pass the information on in this email to anyone who knew Michael. The first service will be on Monday, May 4th, in Deleware, Ohio (just north of Columbus) -St. Mary’s Church at 10am with a reception to follow. The second service will be on Saturday, May 9th in Rancho Santa Fe, California. (northern San Diego county) -Details have not yet been worked out. (If you plan on attending, let me know and I’ll send you the details) If you’d like to send a card, their address is: PO Box 745 Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067-0745 Shannon’s email is: shannondempsey@cox.net If I find out more information, I’ll pass it along. With Love, Liz
  1. No comments yet.
  1. No trackbacks yet.