Michael Steven Partin, Leon HS Grad, Dies at 75

Michael Partin, 75, of Tallahassee smoked his last doobie on September 1, 2025, following a brave battle with cancer. Michael was born November 18, 1949, in Miami, Florida, the second of four boys, to John and Leona Partin. He moved to Tallahassee in 1961, attending Blessed Sacrament School and serving as an altar boy at Blessed Sacrament while giving the teachers and nuns hell. He preferred making out with girls behind the chapel and participating in school sports as opposed to academics. He graduated from Leon High School in 1968, having met Sherry Deters, his future wife.

Michael was an artist, majoring in constructive design, where he produced beautiful pottery and crochet pieces. After graduating from FSU in 1972 and marrying Sherry, the young couple spent their days raising goats and other animals on a farm in Quincy. Michael loved being a farmer, preferring to plow fields and fix machinery, and eventually making babies with Sherry. Unfortunately, the real world beckoned, and he set aside his passion for all things farming for a job at the Department of Revenue, and providing a stable homelife with his wife for their three daughters. The family moved to “the Blue House” on Thomasville Road in 1983, bringing along the VW bugs and cattle waterer which doubled as the family swimming pool.

Michael survived a house full of women by spending his weekends outside, maintaining cars out of necessity but also satisfying another passion, fixing anything and everything. Affectionately nicknamed MacGyver, he was likely horrified at the lack of mechanical ability by at least one of his girls. Yet he patiently coached those same girls’ softball teams, taught them how to drive on those same cars he fixed, and attending every school event, even the boring ones. He loved golf but a spot on the tour was not to be. Instead, he played with his Blessed Sacrament friends, adding in-laws and transplants to the group over the years. He also enjoyed playing softball himself and flying kites on the beach in Carrabelle.

Post retirement and divorce, he and Sherry maintained a loving friendship that often left everyone asking if they would remarry. Instead, they often travelled to Carrabelle, Colorado and South Carolina together to visit daughters and grandkids, where he was the best Papa any grandchild could ask for. His grandchildren will miss his attempts to buy their affection, especially as they reach the driving age and need gas money. His family and friends will fondly remember his twisted sense of humor (naming a pig on the farm Sausage) and his creativity (making a treasured wooden advent calendar). He held on long enough to watch his beloved Seminoles win their season opener.

Michael is predeceased by his parents, John and Leona Partin, as well as his older brother, John Partin, Jr. He is survived by his three daughters, Brooke Nims (Jacob) of Aiken, SC, Summer Walker (Nathan) of Steamboat Springs, CO, and Jenna Partin of Tallahassee, FL, as well as his two younger brothers, James and Richard Anthony, both of Tallahassee. He leaves behind his grandchildren, Baylee and Sky Walker and Isabella and Jackson Nims, as well as his nephew, Rasa Partin (Sachi) of Los Angeles, CA, and their three children. Last but not least, he is survived by his ex-wife and best friend, Sherry Deters, who even after divorce, still somehow got stuck with him for life.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Elder Care Services, Inc., or Big Bend Hospice. A service of fond memories (and hopefully some raunchy ones) will be Saturday, September 20, 2025 at Bevis Funeral Home, 200 John Knox Road, Tallahassee, Florida, at 2:00 p.m., to be followed by a reception with food and refreshments.

Breanna Green of Bevis Funeral Home (850-385-2193 or www.bevisfh.com) is assisting the family with their arrangements.