N. Michel (Mike) Landaiche, Jr. was born on February 25, 1934 in New Orleans, La. He was the only son of N. M. Landaiche, Sr. (Bob) and Leonie Gremillion Landaiche. His only sibling, Judith Ann, passed away in 2015.
Mike grew up in New Orleans and attended various Catholic elementary schools. His high school days were spent at Jesuit High School from which he graduated in 1952. He always spoke so highly of the education he received at Jesuit. At the end of his junior year in high school, he met Carol Comstock on a blind date, and she became the love of his life. Mike always wanted to be an engineer and attended Loyola University for their pre-engineering classes. Since Loyola did not have the engineering curriculum at that time, he needed to go elsewhere. He attended Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., graduating with honors in 1957. His class was the first to go through the Co-operative Engineering Program. This is a great program, where one gets engineering experience and earns money before graduation.
Mike and Carol were married on Septtember 6, 1955 in New Orleans and moved to Blacksburg, Va. while Mike continued with his education. After graduation, Mike began his long career with Esso Standard Oil (now known as Exxon-Mobil Oil) in Baton Rouge, La. Job transfers took the family to Venezuela for 11 years, New Jersey for five years, Aruba for five years and Cairo, Egypt for two years. Mike retired in 1986.
Mike and Carol are the proud parents of nine children, Mick, Ken, Greg, Keith, Susie, Randall, Cynthia, Debbie and Jennifer and 23 grandchildren. Upon retirement in 1986, our youngest child, Jennifer, eight years old was the only one still at home. We moved to Costa Rica where life, the climate, and the people were wonderful. We lived there for eight years. Upon retiring, Mike wanted an activity that would be as challenging as his work career, so he took up flying, got his license, and bought a plane. We had a great time flying to various countries in Central America and many places in the U.S.A. Mike figured that he had been to 43 countries, which also included business trips to Europe and the Middle East.
When the time came to leave Costa Rica in 1994, the family moved to Georgia. We enjoyed living here and especially loved our church family at Holy Trinity Catholic Church.Through the years, God had been calling Mike to study for the Permanent Diaconate. Finally in 1999 Mike began his five years of formation and was ordained on Jan. 31, 2004. It was a wonderful experience even though he was able to give his parish just five years due to ill health.
A funeral mass will be held Friday, February 2 at 10 a.m. at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Peachtree City. The family will receive visitors on Thursday, February 1, 2018 from 6 p.m. -8 p.m. at Carl J. Mowell & Son Funeral Home in Peachtree City, with a Rosary beginning at 7 p.m. Expressions of sympathy may be made in the form of donations in Mike’s name to St. Vincent de Paul Society at Holy Trinity.
Carl J. Mowell & Son Funeral Home, Peachtree City –www.mowellfuneralhome.com.
