Who was Michael Kreith?

The son of two highly educated and accomplished Jewish parents who escaped from Nazi Germany, Mike lived a difficult life with courage and dignity. Everyone who knew him spoke of his kindness, generosity, compassion for others and his sense of humor. Michael was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and grew up in Boulder. He earned a B.A. from Beloit and completed a year of law school at Tulsa University. He became a certified ski instructor at Breckenridge, specializing in teaching blind children. He met his future wife, Jo Pender from Ireland, in Santa Barbara. The couple moved to Ireland where Michael became a much-respected traditional Irish basket weaver. Their son, Daniel, is an aspiring attorney. Once back in the States, Michael enjoyed tennis, hiking and raptor watching. He also built and ran a Middle Eastern food cart serving the most delicious baba ganoush in the area, and he was a compassionate landlord to his grateful tenants, most of whom became his friends. But it was on the tennis court that Mike spent some of his happiest moments.