Michael Gabridge, 76, of Holland, Michigan died on Saturday, June 29. He eventually succumbed to a twelve year battle with cancer (Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) and various medical complications.
Michael was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, son to Lottie and Theodore Gabridge. He earned advanced degrees at Michigan State University (B.S., M.S.) and the University of Michigan (Ph.D.). Early in his professional life as a medical researcher, he served in the U.S. Public Health Service as a Commissioned Corps. Officer, assigned to the U. S. Food and Drug Administration. He has lived in numerous states (and England) in the course of multiple careers (professor, inventor and holder of multiple patents, entrepreneur, business incubator director and medical school administrator). From 1993-1999, he was responsible for all of the intellectual property and patents (and served as Associate Vice President) at the University of Colorado, and later worked in a similar capacity at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. Since retiring from academia and spending several years in the Rocky Mountains, Dr. Gabridge and his devoted wife, Lenie Roos-Gabridge, relocated to West Michigan.
Michael Gabridge was a microbiologist by training, and a nature photographer by inclination. Mike’s specialty was macro and close-up work. His graphics represent a distinctive and unusual blend of scientific detail and artistic interpretation. His stock and free-lance photography appeared in over one hundred textbooks over the past several decades (publishers like Academic Press, MacMillan, Harper & Row, and Lippincott), magazines (including Adirondack Life, Laboratory Medicine, and Women’s Day-Australia), company brochures and annual reports, and the Boston Science Museum. The subjects for these and his stock photo work (represented by Custom Medical Stock Photography in Chicago, and Visuals Unlimited in New Hampshire) range from close-ups of flowers and leaves, to frost crystals. Michael participated in, and earned awards at, numerous regional and national art shows.
Michael is survived by his wife Lenie Roos-Gabridge of Holland, MI; children Patrick Gabridge and his wife Tracy of Medford, MA; Anne Mechling and her husband John of Broomfield, CO; Amy Cooper and her husband Jon, of Broomfield, CO; and Erin Breeze of Los Angeles, CA; and ten grand children: Kira, Noah, Anastasia, Sophie, Harper, Chiara, Che, Ray, Ayla, and Axel; and his brother Robert and his wife Maria, of Grand Rapids, MI; and sister Sandra Witek and her husband Paul, of Goodrich, MI.
The Memorial will be private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the International Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation (IWMF) at iwmf.com or by mail to 6144 Clark Center Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34238, or to a charity of one’s choice.
