Michael Robert Banville

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada 3/21/1939 to parents Michael & Gabrielle Banville, Michael grew up near the St. Lawrence River enjoying fishing, ice skating, hockey and his lifelong favorite pastime, golf. His father, Michael Sr., was a carpenter and self-taught draftsman - who built the home they lived in - and passed on these skills to young Michael that would later serve him well in life. He attended Catholic parochial school in Ste. Eustache Sur-le-lac along with his sister, Joan, and brother Gerald, until the age of 11 when Mike Sr. took a job with the defense contractor, Hughes Aircraft, thus moving the family to Venice, CA where they became U.S. citizens. While Mike Sr. developed his skills in machining and electronics development, Mike Jr attended public middle school and quickly developed new friends. Having grown up in cold and snowy Montreal, the sunny and warm climate of southern California was loved by the family. After a three-year stint in Venice, the family moved to Rockville, Maryland – again to support Mike Sr in his machinist career. Mike Jr graduated from Richard Montgomery High School and attended college classes in business. In 1956, the family moved again to the western U.S., this time planting their roots in Phoenix AZ. Mike Jr began his business career by selling and installing draperies for SEARS, which during the 50s and 60s, was a lucrative industry as Arizona began its attraction as a winter destination for ‘snowbirds’. With 5 years experience under his belt, Mike became an independent installer, and loved the feeling of being ‘his own boss’. During this time, he met Ruth Lucille Hourihan, who, at the time, worked for Household Finance Company. They married in January of 1961 and had their first son, Michael Charles Banville in November, followed by their second son, John in November 1963. In 1966, Mike’s career and young family moved to Los Angeles, CA where he developed his sales & promotion skills in the plastics industry with General Binding Company, then later buying and expanding existing businesses. In 1972 he bought SIPCO and re-branded it as Perfect Plastic Products in 1976 – a manufacturer of laminating equipment and materials for luggage tags and vinyl promotional products distributed nationwide. In February of 1971, he and Ruth had their daughter, Michelle. Shortly after the birth, Ruth was showing signs of calcium deficiency which later contributed to her poor health and eventual early death from congestive heart failure in October of 1982. After selling Perfect Plastics in 1986, Mike began developing new business interests outside of manufacturing and became a builder of spec homes in both Northern and Southern California during the lucrative 1980s. For a time he owned Penn Valley Travel, an agency in Penn Valley, CA and Classic Floors, flooring store in Santa Ynez, CA. With the kids gone, he concentrated on business brokering and real estate sales, which led him to owning several commercial buildings and rental homes around Palmdale and Palm Desert, CA. Being involved in resort real estate allowed Mike more time to truly develop his skill sets on the golf course, which eventually led to his becoming a USGTF certified golf instructor in 2005. In 2008, he once again moved back to Arizona (Sun City West) to continue his real estate sales career and enjoy more new courses. Since the real estate bubble sent thousands of homes into foreclosure, Mike developed a niche and passion for helping people get back into owning their own home at greatly reduced rates. He truly enjoyed this lifestyle until stricken with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in 2013, which led to his relocation to Montana to live out his remaining months with his kids and grandchildren. Mike is preceded in death by his parents, Michael and Gabrielle, and younger brothers Gerald and Robert. He is survived by sister Joan (Schoonover) and husband Roland of Farmington, UT; son Michael & wife Katie (Bozeman), son John & wife Yasuko (Honolulu HI) and daughter Michelle (Banville) Moore and husband Terry Moore (Billings), along with grandchildren Adrianna Banville and Mia & Tabitha Moore, and numerous nieces & nephews. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his name to Knights of Columbus Charities Inc, at kofccharities.com