Memories of Dr. Michael Sturgill obituary neurosurgeon, MD

Milena Sukovic

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Milena Sukovic

Melissa Davis

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Milena Sukovic

REPOSTED from legacy.com so all kind words are in this single location for posterity:

I am Michael's Aunt Linda. I adored Mike! When he was born, I was 10 years old. We grew up together. He was more like my little brother than my nephew. We shared a lot of memories. We would counsel with each other when we were going through trials in our lives. I struggled with depression, too. I love him dearly and I will miss him.

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Milena Sukovic

Melissa Davis

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Milena Sukovic

Michael always showed me the birthday card he would receive from you every year no matter what. He exhibited... Read more Michael always showed me the birthday card he would receive from you every year no matter what. He exhibited similar thoughtfulness,... Read more Michael always showed me the birthday card he would... Read more

Milena Sukovic

REPOSTED from legacy.com so all kind words are in this single location for posterity:

I remember him to be a smart and caring father who loved his twin girls. I also remember how happy he was on his wedding day to Milena. May his girls find comfort in the fact he loved them.

God rest his soul.
Chelsea Smith, Chicago, IL

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Milena Sukovic

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Milena Sukovic

Chelsea, It meant a great deal to us to have you and James and your daughter Kinsey with us for our wedding.... Read more Chelsea, It meant a great deal to us to have you and James and your daughter Kinsey with us for our wedding. I hope Michael keeps... Read more Chelsea, It meant a great deal to us to have you and... Read more

Milena Sukovic

REPOSTED from legacy.com so all kind words are in this single location for posterity:

I am so so sorry to hear of Michael's death. I cannot imagine the sadness you must be enduring and there are no words to express my sympathies and sadness at this time. What do you say to someone who has suffered such a loss as yours? Perhaps sharing my memories of him can bless you on your healing journey.
I met Mike during our college days. He came from a wonderful family and I loved my visits to their home because they were so welcoming and loving.
Mike was moral, honest, kind and had complete integrity. He was deeply intelligent and loved learning. He was focused and driven and I always knew I could find him in the library! He studied hard and received excellent grades. He looked forward to finding his test scores on the professors doors-that was the way it was done in those days.
Everyone liked Mike! He had a laid-back style and never sought the limelight. He was genuinely interested in others and being caring and compassionate was second nature.
He was a thoughtful gift giver. One summer I went on a one month survival expedition and besides a change of clothes I was only allowed to bring a spoon. Before I left Mike said he had a gift for me. He presented me a spoon he had carved while on the river and I still have it! I believe that spoon saved my life!
When I returned I took a trip down the Middle Fork of the Salmon and saw first hand how skilled he was as a river guide. He was very respected among the other guides and a favorite with the guests. He was also a good cook! He loved the river, nature and Idaho.
When he was 19 he wanted to teach the people of Guatemala and El Salvador about Jesus Christ. It was hard but he sold his beloved motorcycle to help finance his two year mission. Through his weekly letters I saw how he loved and served these humble people.
Mike loved music, concerts, movies, dancing,Mexican food and lemon meringue pie. He introduced me to French pancakes which he made and ice cream in cantaloupe. And nothing would get in the way of his running 2 miles every day at the track!
It has been many years since I have had any contact with Mike. I have such fond memories of him and the Sturgill family and feel that my life has been better because of them. I will always remember Michael as a man of true character. These memories comfort me. It is my hope that they may also comfort all of you who knew him.
Love to all,
Melanie Hansen Boyer

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Milena Sukovic

Melissa Davis

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Milena Sukovic

Melanie, Thank you for being so kind and loving to Michael. I hope he gets to keep all his happy memories.... Read more Melanie, Thank you for being so kind and loving to Michael. I hope he gets to keep all his happy memories. And thank you for ... Read more Melanie, Thank you for being so kind and loving to ... Read more

Milena Sukovic

1973, Twin Falls, Idaho, USA

Michael Sturgill 1973- Thank you Melanie Boyer for sending me this high school graduation photo of Michael - Milena

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Milena Sukovic

Melissa Davis

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Milena Sukovic

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Milena Sukovic

Aleksandra Dabic

Milena Sukovic

Melissa Davis

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Milena Sukovic

2019, Ravinia, Highland Park, IL, USA

Zlata, Bob, Michael, Milena

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Milena Sukovic

Robert Erickson

Milena Sukovic

Aleksandra Dabic

Melissa Davis

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Robert Erickson

Music Lovers Always Music Lovers Always Music Lovers Always

Milena Sukovic

2019, Ravinia, Highland Park, IL, USA

He was so funny and unique:
1. His favorite color was brown. He told me when he was a child the teacher asked all the kids and when he said his was brown, the class laughed but he didn’t care. He loved brown because it was an earthy color. He was an adventurous outdoorsy kid who often stayed out all day and his parents would have to go find him.
2. He felt very cool for having taken a modern dance class in college. He felt very confident in his dancing abilities :)
3. He said there would be snakes by the river where he would be a river guide, and he would have to put potatoes sacks on around his legs and run through them!
4. He learned to speak Spanish while a missionary in El Salvador. He thought the “Book of a Mormon” was hilarious.
5. He loved and had fun interpreting modern art.
6. He achieved so much, but was so humble.
7. He made me go to the ER when I sat funny and had a pain in my rib that wouldn’t go away by telling me I could die if I didn’t. And I had to believe him because he was so well read. So I went and it was nothing. He just cared so much.
8. He would observe people in public and diagnose them and tell them if he thought something was wrong, because he cared that much.
9. He kept in shape by lifting a 40 lb weight with each hand. At night he would often stub his toe on this weight.
10. Back then, he was the youngest Eagle Scout at 12 years old.
11. He loved traveling and meeting people from other cultures.
12. He put on goofy Halloween costumes to amuse the kids.
13. He was an actor in his mother’s national award winning child theater group.
14. He wrote the most thoughtful cards.
15. He tried to teach us how to start a fire and carve wood.
16. He told the silliest “true” campfire scary story.
17. He would wake up in the middle of the night and eat ice cream mixed with cake and milk.
18. He was proud of his barbecue chicken recipe.
19. He loved french toast with crunchy peanut butter.
20. He learned to ski when he was four when his father left him at the top of the mountain and gave him the ski instruction to just “go down the mountain”.
21. He was a strong kid who impressively dug a survival food cellar in his parent’s back yard.
22. He was old school chivalrous.
23. He laid water irrigation pipe as a job when he was a kid.
24. He thought powdered milk was horrible.
25. He had a very large head so it was difficult to find a hat that fit well and so he was very sad when he lost his hat.
26. He hardly ever dressed appropriately for cold weather.
27. He liked wearing a bow tie, but kept forgetting how to tie it.
28. He told me when he was younger he liked the Allman Brothers band; for karaoke he picked to sing Neil Young bc he thought his voice was similar. Later he liked the voices of Mariah and Adele and the Magic! band’s album.
29. He made a rap song.
30. He listened to Chicago’s WXRT radio while doing surgery.
31. He could laugh at himself and thought life was absurd.
32. He loved going to the outdoor Ravinia concerts with good friends and family.
33. He was easy to love.

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Milena Sukovic

Aleksandra Dabic

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Robert Erickson

My deepest condolences to the Sturgill family and all of Michael's friends. I met Michael through the neurosurgery program at the University of Chicago, and our lives have interwoven at many points since that time. Against most advice, he entered a second residency program in neurosurgery after completing residency training in medical neurology. However, as a result, he became a true physician-surgeon, a rarity in modern medicine.
I remember his resilience overcoming a severe disability of his dominant hand after operating for a many hours in prolonged cranial and spinal surgeries. He underwent multiple procedures and extensive hand rehabilitation before he was able to return to practice.
He loved all of his children. As if it was yesterday, I remember him boasting about his son being selected for the model United Nations in New York. I also remember a pumpkin carving party on the dunes of Lake Michigan with his kids. Lots of laughing and a bonfire on the lake.
He introduced me to the adventure of white water rafting in Chile and Idaho. I will never forget the afternoon when he and I were holding onto a marooned supply boat in chest high white water with the sun beginning to set. He was a most athletic, canny river guide.
He dedicated his life to the care and treatment of thousands of patients. Later in his career he was again set back with a severe injury to his cervical spine. He suffered gradual deterioration and underwent multiple surgical procedures as well as extensive rehabilitation. This was perhaps his greatest challenge.
Through it all, he remained true to himself. More than once I was reminded of Job, who lost everything yet did not curse God.
Michael had a profound, abiding love of God which informed all of his actions. We have lost a brilliant, modest friend.
He gave us so much.

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Milena Sukovic

Aleksandra Dabic

Melissa Davis

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Milena Sukovic

Bob, I am so happy you knew him for so long and until the end. Thank you for saying such kind words about... Read more Bob, I am so happy you knew him for so long and until the end. Thank you for saying such kind words about Michael at the memorial.... Read more Bob, I am so happy you knew him for so long and until... Read more

Aurea Luzano

It was with profound sadness that our family received the news of Dr. Michael Sturgill’s passing.

I was an anesthesiologist at Mt. Sinai Hospital and have worked with Dr. Sturgill for many years. I was privileged to be a witness to this hardworking, soft-spoken gentle soul in action (no histrionics ever!) as he treated each and every one of his patients with quiet competency, empathy and compassion.

In 2013, in a fortuitous twist of fate, our family became the beneficiary of his generosity of heart and his surgical expertise. Our mother had suffered a stroke, and Dr. Sturgill, armed with a deeper knowledge of the surgical profile of Alzheimer’s disease did not have second thoughts in resolutely performing an operation on our mother when no one else would. After the surgery, it was clear that he was downright accurate about the prognosis he has given us, including the histopathology. We had a few more years of blissful and meaningful interaction with our mother after that. Dr. Sturgill keenly understood science but more importantly, he understood love…in our case, filial love. After all, he was a fiercely devoted family man himself. Shortly thereafter, we had the pleasure of serendipitously meeting him with Milena and the girls at Eddie Merlot’s; they were a picture of happiness.

Our mother had two more strokes in the last two years. During our precious moments with her these days, we are reminded of the priceless gift that Dr. Sturgill has given us. With heavy hearts, we pray for the eternal repose of his soul as we send our deep condolences to his family. May they find comfort and healing during this difficult time.

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Milena Sukovic

Aleksandra Dabic

Melissa Davis

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Milena Sukovic

Aurea, Thank you for sharing your kind words. Michael fought so hard in the courts to have a family. Sadly,... Read more Aurea, Thank you for sharing your kind words. Michael fought so hard in the courts to have a family. Sadly, there was insurmountable... Read more Aurea, Thank you for sharing your kind words. Michael... Read more