Michael David Rooney

Michael was born in Mission Viejo, CA on May 19, 1986 to two loving parents, Denise M. (McDonald) Rooney and Gregory D. Rooney.

Greg was on active duty with the US Marine Corps, training to be a pilot, so starting a family was a challenge with the constant moving, deployments, etc.  After many years of trying to conceive, that lucky day finally arrived when our “beautiful, beautiful boy” was born.

Michael’s birth was preceded the night prior with a visit to a local theater for the just-released “Top Gun” movie, including the famous “Danger Zone” sound track by Kenny Loggins.  That awesomely loud “sound of freedom” scene of US Navy F-14’s blasting off an aircraft carrier into the wild blue yonder must have done the trick because Denise’s water broke that evening, and we welcomed Michael to this planet at 1227 the next day!

Michael was Greg’s first born son, and ultimately the only child of Denise.   Though divorced for many years, we jointly mourn our son’s passing, a young man with so much unfinished potential.

Denise relocated to Eugene, OR in 1989 to be closer to her mother and father, who had themselves recently relocated from Sacramento, CA.  It was wonderful that Michael could walk to his elementary school, with loving grandparents and plenty of maternal aunts, uncles, and cousins nearby.  Greg visited often, and developed a fondness for the Pacific Northwest himself.  Denise’s move to the Seattle area around 1994 was coincident with Greg, recently remarried to Shelly, relocating to Vancouver, WA to be closer to his son.   Michael’s three younger siblings, Clare, James, and Lukus were all born in Vancouver, WA.  Denise and Michael finally settled down in the greater Portland area, and he became closer to his fast-growing siblings.

A precocious child, Michael loved big game animals, especially lions and tigers.  Not a big fan of “stick and ball” traditional sports, his attention soon shifted to video games and all things related to the insurgence of personal computers.  Michael graduated from South Ridge High School on June 8, 2004, and continued to pursue his higher education in Computer Science at Portland State University, nearly attaining his Associates Degree.

Michael eventually parlayed his computer skills into a lucrative career in IT, doing data-base analysis for a variety of companies, including Low Pay Card, Bridge City Legal, and Cambria Health Solutions.  This enabled him to fund his love of travel that started with airline non-reving to many family summer vacations.  He was much-loved by his younger siblings, as we boated together at Shaver Lake, Shasta Lake, Lake Mead, Lake San Antonio, and Lake Tahoe.  We RV camped at the Grand Canyon, Zion, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Yosemite, when at age 26 he summited Half Dome on Jun 28, 2012.  He accompanied Greg on many layovers, including Atlanta, Hawaii, and Palau, where he met Constance.  He literally traveled around the world in 2013, including stops in London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Osaka, and who knows where else.  See his “Michael Roo” FB page for a plethora of awesome pics!

He is survived by his parents, and siblings Clare, age 20, James, age 19, and Lukus, age 17, as well as many, many loving and heartbroken aunts, uncles, and cousins from both sides of his family.



IF LOVE COULD HAVE SAVED YOU, YOU WOULD HAVE LIVED FOREVER….