Jeff Mikel

Jeff Mikel passed Thursday Feb. 25, 2021 unexpectedly at his home in Rossville, IL. He was born April 30, 1964 to Don and Connie Mikel. He leaves his wife Katie Rigdon Mikel, kids Chynna Mikel, Austin Mikel (fianc Jessica Baker), Abby Mikel (boyfriend Jacob Boyer), Sayler Mikel, and a bonus daughter Jackie Sparnicht. He loved being a grandpa to Hunter, Jaxson, Kaycen, Liem, and Kyla. He had two sisters Angie (Russ) Purcell and Pam (Bob) Novack. He had a large family and was the nephew of Joe (Mickey) Mikel, Dick (Connie) Mikels, Ken (Rita) Mikels, and Beth Goodrick.

You read that right. Due to an error half of the family is "Mikel" while the other half is "Mikels." He was part of the superior half with the correct spelling!

He was preceded by his grandparents Roscoe and Helen Mikel, and Dick and Marie Goodrick.

Jeff graduated Berea High School going on to obtain a 6 year fine arts degree from Eastern Kentucky University. He had worked as an art director at Creative Products and Health Alliance. As a designer he won several awards including a few Tellys. He was a phenomenal artist and even sold one of his paintings to a collection and it hung in the Louvre and the Guggenheim. In past years he was an EMT on Rossville ambulance and a Captain on the Fire Dept. He was amazing at building, creating, auto repair, restoration, and truly loved working with his hands. He could literally figure out how to fix anything and loved doing it.

Jeff loved fast cars, and never met a radar detector he didnt like. He was a huge Kentucky Wildcats basketball fan we arent sure, but he might still be here if they werent losing so much this year. He was funny and witty. Embarrassing his children was a favorite pastime. He made us promise that if he was ever cremated the urn would say "Katie did this to me while I was still alive!" Jeff was kind and generous. He loved to surprise people and buy special gifts. He was the person who always showed up to help if you were moving and stopped if someone was broken down on the road. He was the dad who shot hoops and threw footballs, made Sat breakfast and was a fierce protector of his wife and kids. He was a phenomenal cook. Well especially miss his alfredo, fried potatoes, and monte cristos.

Visitation will be Friday March 5 from 4:00 -7:00 pm at Sunset Funeral Home at 3940 N. Vermilion Street in Danville, IL. The family would love if everyone wore Kentucky blue. The funeral will be at 1:00pm Saturday, March 6th at Morningstar Church at 201 N Chicago Street in Rossville, IL with burial at Rossville Cemetery and a dinner following. Donations may be made to his family to help cover expenses.

Please join Jeffs family in sharing memories, photos, and videos on his tribute wall at www.sunsetfuneralhome.com.