Mike Mitchell, Man Of Grit, Wit Who Worked Way Up At Shipyard

When he was 28, Mike Mitchell was crushed by a bus and given three days to live.

A man of unusual grit and wit - he grew up among nine siblings and worked his way to the top at Todd Shipyard - Mr. Mitchell stretched three days into 53 years. When he died of a heart attack Sunday, April 7, he was 81.

"During World War II, he was waiting for a bus on Rainier Avenue," said his brother, John Mitchell of Seattle. "It came along and pushed him into a telephone pole. When a lady asked if he was hurt, he said, `No, I always come down to Rainier this time of day to rest.' "

It was his integrity and that upbeat approach to problems - Mr. Mitchell also recovered from being hit by a Model "T" when he was Seattle's first school-crossing guard - that won him lasting friends.

"He was quite a comical character, known all over the waterfront," said Mr. Mitchell's son Dave Mitchell, of Lynnwood. "That's how he handled things, with a joke or anecdote."

Mr. Mitchell, a West Seattle native, was a diving champion in high school. On a football scholarship, he attended what is now Central Washington University, but left after a year to work at the Bureau of Engraving in Washington, D.C.

In 1940, he returned to Seattle and hired on at the shipyards. He began as a fireman and retired in 1979 as repair superintendent.

He involved himself in family activities, helping with technical work at Seattle Skating Club shows when his son skated. Mr. Mitchell also enjoyed fishing and golfing.

A keen gambler, he often went to Reno, Nev., said his granddaughter Michele Mislang, of Shoreline.

"He was a colorful guy," his son said. "He had a lot of class. . . . He had a way of putting bad guys in their place, and keeping the good guys happy."

Other survivors include his children Michael Mitchell Jr., of Seattle, and Joanne Mislang, Shoreline; his sisters Betty Mitchell, Mary Gilbert and Blanche Mitchell, all of Seattle, Marge Schlitz, of Los Angeles, and Florence Nelson, of La Conner; and four grandchildren. His wife of 58 years, Ruth Mitchell, died in 1995.

Services for Mr. Mitchell were to be at 10 a.m. today at St. Luke's Church, 322 N. 175th St., Richmond Beach.