A good friend of mine has passed away

[Journey/Survivor]

Back on February 16th a good friend of mine passed away.

His name was Mike Heggedus.

Mike was a very good friend of mine for the past 23 years. He died on February 16th from a very unexpected heart attack at the age of 45.

Mike was the first person who ever told me about this very website, he loved visiting the home page of MR every day.

Mike was an excellent singer. He was in many bands for over 25 years in the Akron, Canton and Cleveland area.

Mike was most recently the lead singer in one of the best Alice Cooper tribute bands in the world, The Nightmare, as well as a great Cheap Trick tribute band and a recently formed Iron Maiden tribute band.

Mike also was in bands that performed original material as well, that he co-wrote.

Mike loved Melodic Rock bands as well as a lot of Heavy Metal bands. Some of his favorite bands were Triumph, Y&T, Survivor, Foreigner, Iron Maiden, Toto, Loverboy and many other AOR and Metal bands. In fact, Mike and I first met each other because of our mutual admiration of Survivor's music.

Mike always did a great job on Journey songs, as his natural singing voice was similar to Steve Perry.

Mike recently acted in two movies which are due to be released soon.

Mike was a very good friend to all who knew him! He lived a pretty clean life, he did not do drugs, he did not smoke, and only drank a little bit after shows, but not on a regular basis.

The day of Mike's funeral there was a major snow-storm in Northeast Ohio, the sheriff was asking people to stay off of the roads unless it was necessary to drive. Despite the dangerous driving conditions, over 1,200 people attended the funeral, with huge lines outside waiting to pay tribute to Mike.

Here are some links about Mike's life and death...

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-hea ... -suddenly/


http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ohio/o ... =174188828

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm6382887/?ref_=tt_cl_t7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYbL5b_a_Rc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SjNKc_qho4

Even some websites outside of America have posted about Mike's passing.

I know that few if any of you on here knew Mike. But I just wanted to do my own small tribute to my good friend Mike.

[No Surprize]

Hey man, I'm very sorry and send out condolences to you and Michaels family. I clicked on the first link you provided and he certainly seemed like a great dude who loved music and kept it alive. As we all get older, friends that well all know, hell, even us may one day succumb to something all of a sudden. Cherish the time you have with your loved ones, tell them you love them and hug your closet ones each and every day. Live each day like it was your last day on earth. Again J/S, My sincere condolences.

[Journey/Survivor]

Hey man, I'm very sorry and send out condolences to you and Michaels family. I clicked on the first link you provided and he certainly seemed like a great dude who loved music and kept it alive. As we all get older, friends that well all know, hell, even us may one day succumb to something all of a sudden. Cherish the time you have with your loved ones, tell them you love them and hug your closet ones each and every day. Live each day like it was your last day on earth. Again J/S, My sincere condolences.

Thank you, No Surprize, I appreciate it!

Yes, Mike was a great guy! I always thought that he was in great health. It came as a huge shock.

[AR]

Unfortunately as many of us are getting older (I'll be 47 this summer) hearing this kind of thing more and more. It really hits home. Sorry for your loss.

[Journey/Survivor]

Unfortunately as many of us are getting older (I'll be 47 this summer) hearing this kind of thing more and more. It really hits home. Sorry for your loss.

Thank you, AR, I appreciate it!

Late last night I found out that another good friend of mine's mother just died. She died within a few days of being diagnosed with Lymphoma. She was 70 years old. But still, it was shocking how fast she died.

[Journey/Survivor]

Unfortunately as many of us are getting older (I'll be 47 this summer) hearing this kind of thing more and more. It really hits home. Sorry for your loss.

Thank you, AR, I appreciate it!

Late last night I found out that another good friend of mine's mother just died. She died within a few days of being diagnosed with Lymphoma. She was 70 years old. But still, it was shocking how fast she died.

Sorry about your loss J/S, sounds like a great dude. Anybody that digs Alice is allrite.

Ed, 47, (really), you're just a wee lad. Imma 55 in August.

Am I the oldest here?

Thank you, I appreciate it!

My friend hung out with Cooper a few times, and he said that Cooper was a nice guy.

I doubt that you're the oldest. I don't want to name any names, but I'm pretty sure that there are at least a couple of members on here that are already in their 60's?

[steveo777]

That was too young. Sorry for your loss! It's always tough to lose a close friend. I happens way too often lately!!!

[Journey/Survivor]

That was too young. Sorry for your loss! It's always tough to lose a close friend. I happens way too often lately!!!

Thank you!

[Journey/Survivor]

I just spotted that Dave Meniketti, the lead singer of Y&T, donated a hundred bucks toward funeral expenses for Mike's funeral. That was cool of him to do that!

[JRNYMAN]

My condolences to you and to those who were closest to Mike. May he rest in peace.

I turned 50 a few months back and it was a tough day for me. It's humbling when you take seriously the fact that your life is most probably over half over. What makes that even scarier is thinking about how fast time seems to go by and how much faster it seems to go the older you get. Pondering all that together really makes you appreciate life and those who share it with you a whole lot more.
We've all had that conversation with our friends about remembering when we were kids and we thought that our current age was so old and how far off into the future it was. My oldest daughter will be 25 in June and it seems like she was just born like 20 mins. ago. As we make our respective ways through the next decade of our lives, there will surely be friends and relatives who will have their inevitable appointment with death and as time goes on, those will become more frequent and that's a very sobering thing. I remember my dad getting a phone call one day with news that a friend of his with whom he had had since high school had died and he really took it hard. He fell apart. I asked my mom why he was so upset and she told me his last friend had died. His last friend. That's fucking heavy!

Regarding Alice, living here in Arizona and being a golfer and a rocker has had its advantages, one of which was meeting Alice over 20 years ago when my friend and I, who worked at a resort here were put into a foursome with him. That resort is the oldest grass golf course in the state and Alice really enjoys playing there. We hit it off from the start and, long story short, a friendship was made out of it. Mike was right. Alice is one of the nicest and genuine guys I've ever met. He's very funny, he loves his wife more than anything in the world, he's aware of how he got to where he is in life and never takes that for granted, he loves talking to fans and never rejects a request for an autograph and a pic, and by God, he could have easily been a pro golfer! His swing is poetry in motion. He's a very humble guy and he truly cares about people does a tremendous amount of work for his charities.

All the best,
Steve

[No Surprize]

My condolences to you and to those who were closest to Mike. May he rest in peace.

I turned 50 a few months back and it was a tough day for me. It's humbling when you take seriously the fact that your life is most probably over half over. What makes that even scarier is thinking about how fast time seems to go by and how much faster it seems to go the older you get. Pondering all that together really makes you appreciate life and those who share it with you a whole lot more.
We've all had that conversation with our friends about remembering when we were kids and we thought that our current age was so old and how far off into the future it was. My oldest daughter will be 25 in June and it seems like she was just born like 20 mins. ago. As we make our respective ways through the next decade of our lives, there will surely be friends and relatives who will have their inevitable appointment with death and as time goes on, those will become more frequent and that's a very sobering thing. I remember my dad getting a phone call one day with news that a friend of his with whom he had had since high school had died and he really took it hard. He fell apart. I asked my mom why he was so upset and she told me his last friend had died. His last friend. That's fucking heavy!

Regarding Alice, living here in Arizona and being a golfer and a rocker has had its advantages, one of which was meeting Alice over 20 years ago when my friend and I, who worked at a resort here were put into a foursome with him. That resort is the oldest grass golf course in the state and Alice really enjoys playing there. We hit it off from the start and, long story short, a friendship was made out of it. Mike was right. Alice is one of the nicest and genuine guys I've ever met. He's very funny, he loves his wife more than anything in the world, he's aware of how he got to where he is in life and never takes that for granted, he loves talking to fans and never rejects a request for an autograph and a pic, and by God, he could have easily been a pro golfer! His swing is poetry in motion. He's a very humble guy and he truly cares about people does a tremendous amount of work for his charities.

All the best,
Steve

Great post ASU. I can totally relate to what your saying. I'm 52 now, my only son will turn 21 in September. My mother told me when I turned 50 I would start seeing people that you, we, from all walks of life start to pass. Already this year I have seen three people, one my age, the other two a bit younger pass away leaving behind family, friends and children. Punch's you in the gut and makes you realize that your family and close friends are everything. There's not a day that goes by that I don't talk to my mom & dad, my sister and my son and tell them I love them.

[Journey/Survivor]

My condolences to you and to those who were closest to Mike. May he rest in peace.

I turned 50 a few months back and it was a tough day for me. It's humbling when you take seriously the fact that your life is most probably over half over. What makes that even scarier is thinking about how fast time seems to go by and how much faster it seems to go the older you get. Pondering all that together really makes you appreciate life and those who share it with you a whole lot more.
We've all had that conversation with our friends about remembering when we were kids and we thought that our current age was so old and how far off into the future it was. My oldest daughter will be 25 in June and it seems like she was just born like 20 mins. ago. As we make our respective ways through the next decade of our lives, there will surely be friends and relatives who will have their inevitable appointment with death and as time goes on, those will become more frequent and that's a very sobering thing. I remember my dad getting a phone call one day with news that a friend of his with whom he had had since high school had died and he really took it hard. He fell apart. I asked my mom why he was so upset and she told me his last friend had died. His last friend. That's fucking heavy!

Regarding Alice, living here in Arizona and being a golfer and a rocker has had its advantages, one of which was meeting Alice over 20 years ago when my friend and I, who worked at a resort here were put into a foursome with him. That resort is the oldest grass golf course in the state and Alice really enjoys playing there. We hit it off from the start and, long story short, a friendship was made out of it. Mike was right. Alice is one of the nicest and genuine guys I've ever met. He's very funny, he loves his wife more than anything in the world, he's aware of how he got to where he is in life and never takes that for granted, he loves talking to fans and never rejects a request for an autograph and a pic, and by God, he could have easily been a pro golfer! His swing is poetry in motion. He's a very humble guy and he truly cares about people does a tremendous amount of work for his charities.

All the best,
Steve

Thank you for the condolences!

It's been almost two months since Mike's passing, but I think about him at least once a day. Mike and I were/are both huge Survivor fans, and we both love/loved Jimi Jamison's singing. We both used to hang out with Jimi after a lot of his shows, and he was one of the nicest Rock stars you could ever meet! It hit both Mike and I really hard when Jimi died back in September.
A couple of days ago one of the members here on MR posted in the Survivor thread about a song that Jimi sang on Tommy Denander's most recent album. I had not known that, and I'm sure Mike had not known it either, or else he would have called me to tell me about it as soon as he found out. When I read about that song in the Survivor thread the other day, it hit me hard right away that I can not call Mike and let him know about that song.

Ironically, Mike was pretty much the last one of my good friends that I would have ever expected to die of a heart attack at age 45. Some of my friends are overweight, some smoke, some have other health issues that I am aware of. But Mike was thin, didn't smoke or do drugs, wasn't a heavy drinker, he seemed to be in good health that I had been aware of.

Mike and I would often talk about how much we miss the 1980's. Just a few months before his death we were having another one of those discussions, and he told me that over the last year he was feeling extra protective toward his family and his long time friends, and was extra sentimental about the past. After his death I found out that he had been having chest pains every now and then for about the last year of his life. His wife had tried to get him to go to the doctor, but he wouldn't go. It's difficult for me to not be mad at him now for refusing to go get checked out by a doctor.

I've heard great things about Alice Cooper the man, both from Mike and what I've read on the internet. I know that Cooper loves golf, and Mike liked golfing too, he lived right next to a golf course. My brother was a certified PGA pro. I golf for my own enjoyment, but I never took it serious. My grandfather was the Ohio amateur Champion in gold for like five years in a row back in the 1940's, and he taught my brother how to play. He wanted to teach me, but I was always more into Baseball, Football, Basketball and Boxing.

Thank you again to those of you who've offered condolences to Mike's family and friends, I appreciate it!

[mikemarrs]

Turned forty last month,time does fly.

Sorry and my condolences to you and Michaels family

[Journey/Survivor]

Turned forty last month,time does fly.

Sorry and my condolences to you and Michaels family

I just turned 43 last month.


Thank you for the condolences!