Earl Seybert

On March 14, 2021, Earl Michael "Mike" Seybert of Appleton, Wisconsin, passed away unexpectedly due to health complications.  Mike was surrounded by loving family at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Mike was born on June 2nd, 1949 in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan to Earl and Madeline Grace Seybert.  Mike lives on through his seven brothers and their wives, Stuart (Betty) Midland, MI, Terry (Barbara) Mesa, AZ, Cliff (Michele) Holt, MI, Phillip (Kim) Mt. Pleasant, MI, Greg St. Johns, MI, Chris (Betsy) Traverse City, MI, Joe (Toni) Traverse City, MI, and Rosemarie Dexter sister in-law Glidden, WI.  Many nieces and nephews, and cousins also survive Mike.  Mike was predeceased by his beloved wife Pat, brother in-law Jerry Dexter, paternal and maternal grandparents, his mother Madeline and father Earl, and sister in-law Lynn Seybert.

Mike graduated from Ovid-Elsie High School in 1967.  He went on to attend Eastern Michigan University graduating later from Michigan State University with a BA in English and Education.  His first teaching assignment was with his old Alma mater Ovid – Elsie High School as an English teacher.  Teaching became a lifelong pursuit for Mike.  Never without a book or a pen or pencil, he navigated the essays and writings of high schoolers and later on middle schoolers encouraging all to excel in the language he loved.

To say Mike was a reader and a writer is a serious understatement.  Following his teaching stint in    Michigan, Mike moved to Appleton, WI to be with Pat, also a much loved and adored teacher in her own right. Together they forged a life path in Appleton, Mike at Hilbert Public Schools and Pat at Neenah High School.

Mike was a brilliant witty man, husband, son, uncle, friend, and a sadly missed brother.  Mike looked at life through a compassionate lens giving many hours of volunteer time to the Community Clothes Closet he and Pat adopted as a significant way to give back to their community.  He was an excellent photographer with prized photos still hanging in my home.  His unique perspective made him look at life with a different lens.  His was through music, the arts, writing with his Mill Writers’ friends to seek and learn about the art of writing and to live what Shakespeare opined, “To be a well-favored man is the gift of fortune; but to write and read comes by nature.”   Ever a teacher, Mike’s ever present wit challenged us all to learn, “I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you come unarmed.” William Shakespeare

Thank you to all of the medical staff who served Mike in his final hours and to all who loved him as a friend, mentor, neighbor, teacher, and a good human being.

A celebration of Mike’s life will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 7th, 2021 at Valley Funeral Home; Appleton, WI, Visitation will be at 11am until the hour of service.   A second memorial will be on Saturday, August 14, 2021 at 11 A.M. at Smith Family Funeral Homes, Elsie Chapel. Visitation will be held at 10 A.M. until the time of service. Memorial contributions may be sent to: Community Clothes Closet, 1465B Opportunity Way, Menasha, WI 54952 (https://communityclothescloset.org) and to the Fox Cities Book Festival (https://foxcitiesbookfestival.org).