Michael R. "Mike" Smith

Michael R. “Mike” Smith, 73, of Granger, Indiana, passed away on September 30, 2026.

Mike was born November 30, 1952, in Zanesville, Ohio, to Henry E. Smith and June E. (Baldwin) Smith. His family moved to South Bend in 1955, and Mike later graduated from Saint Joseph High School and attended Bethel College in Mishawaka. He served two years in the United States Army, stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia.

Music entered Mike’s life early and never left. Inspired by the Beatles, 12-year-old Mike received his first guitar, a Danelectro, from his parents. He co-founded his first band, Cycles of Sound, while still in high school, beginning a life in music that would span more than six decades.

While serving in the Army, Mike and his first wife, Margaret “Peggy” Heston Smith, performed as a duo at Fort Stewart and around Hinesville, Georgia. After his military service, they moved to New York, where they performed in nightclubs in and around Manhattan before returning to South Bend in 1975. There, Mike and Peggy formed Chatelaine. Peggy died July 16, 1977, after an extended illness.

After taking time away from performing, Mike returned to the stage with Shadow Lane, performing with the group for more than 15 years and, in the early 1990s, backing Davy Jones of The Monkees. Over the decades that followed, Mike performed with numerous Michiana-area groups. Among them were Pixley Miller Smith (PMS), Jetta and the Jellybeans, Souled Out Band, High Life, the duo Smith & Richards, and The Whateverly Brothers.

Fellow musicians remember Mike’s smooth baritone voice and flawless harmonies, but they remember just as clearly the person standing beside them onstage. Mike never needed to own the spotlight. He listened to the musicians around him, found where he belonged and made the whole band sound better. For Mike, harmony was about the people making the music as much as the notes they sang together.

That quality extended well beyond the stage. Friends describe Mike simply as a good person to have as a friend. He accepted people as they were, enjoyed their company and formed friendships filled with music, laughter and memories made along the way.

He particularly enjoyed performing for residents of senior-living communities throughout the Michiana area. The conversations before and after those shows mattered to him as much as the performances themselves, and he enjoyed getting to know the people who came to hear him.

Mike continued making music for as long as he could. Even as his health increasingly limited his schedule, he performed as many as 100 to 200 dates a year until late 2024 and continued performing at senior-living communities and in recording sessions.

Those recording sessions became Cover Story, an album Mike completed in September and which will be released later this year. The title was deliberate: the album is made up of cover songs, but together they also tell part of Mike’s story. It was important to him that the record include the musical brothers and sisters he had shared stages with over the years, and every track features one or more musicians from different chapters of his career.

After an album of other people’s songs, Mike saved the last word for himself. Cover Story concludes with its only original composition, “Coming of Age,” Mike’s autobiographical look back at receiving his first guitar, discovering the Beatles, going to New York, playing a lifetime of gigs and finding in music a constant companion through the changes and challenges of life.

Music filled Mike’s home as well as his stages. Theresa and Kara remember growing up in a house where there was always music and are grateful for the appreciation of music they developed because of their dad.

Mike was deeply sentimental. He kept scrapbooks chronicling years of performances and the people with whom he shared them. His guitars carried memories, too, and it mattered to him that treasured instruments eventually went to people he loved.

Those who knew Mike will also recognize another essential part of him: he was ornery. It was a Smith family trait he came by honestly from both Henry and June. Mike wasn’t a teller of jokes so much as someone whose natural mischief and sense of humor were simply part of being around him.

In Mandy, whom he married in June 2019, Mike found someone more than willing to give the orneriness right back. They loved joking and startling one another when least expected. Mandy occasionally awakened a sleeping Mike by jumping into bed and singing “Jingle Bells,” knowing full well that sooner or later Mike would find some way to return the favor. They shared that playful spirit throughout their life together.

Mike loved Euchre, but the rules were not open to negotiation. He played the game the way his father had taught him, and anyone attempting a variation was likely to hear Mike’s familiar verdict: “That’s not Euchre.” He also inherited Henry’s devotion to punctuality: getting somewhere early meant you were on time; getting there “on time” meant you were late.

Mike loved spending time with the children at the daycare operated by Mandy, helping whenever he was able. From infants to preschoolers, the children adored him, and the feeling was mutual. When Mike wasn’t there, it wasn’t unusual for one of them to ask, “Where’s Mike?”

In the final weeks of his life, Mike was able to spend a week in the Virgin Islands with Mandy, his daughter Kara and Kara’s husband, Jimmy. The four spent plenty of time around a Euchre table, where the question of exactly what constituted “real” Euchre remained a recurring topic of conversation.

Despite being born a Buckeye, Mike was a lifelong Notre Dame football fan. One of his treasured recent memories was attending a Notre Dame game with Mandy, cheering from what he called “the best seats of his life.”

Mike is survived by his wife, Miranda “Mandy” Smith; his daughters, Theresa Sornsen and Kara (Jimmy) Shugars; his stepchildren, Ryker Daniel, Paxton Daniel, Ava Daniel and Delanee Daniel; his grandchildren, Joe (Danielle) Schrad, Megan Schrad, Caleb Schrad, Rebecca Schrad, Macey (Landon) Moore, Ben Rowe, Natalie Rowe and Amelia Daniel; his great-grandchildren, Mia Schrad, Eva Schrad, Isaiah Schrad, Josiah Schrad and Ella Moore; his mother-in-law, Colleen Raven; and his siblings, Janet (Steven) Ross, Jeff (Karen) Smith and Terry (Abigail Bender) Smith.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and June Smith, and his first wife, Margaret “Peggy” Heston Smith.

More than sixty years after Mike first picked up that Danelectro, music remained part of who he was. Even near the end of his life, his fingers still bore the calluses of a guitarist—marks earned over a lifetime of chords, songs, stages and nights spent making music with people he loved.

Visitation will be from 1-3 p.m. Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at Kaniewski Funeral Home, 3545 N. Bendix Drive, South Bend, IN.  A Funeral Service will follow at 3:00 p.m. Tuesday in the funeral home, followed by Military Honors.  An additional visitation will also be held later Tuesday evening, from 6-8 p.m. at the funeral home.  Cremation will follow. 

Memorial Contributions may be made to: American Cancer Society

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