Michael Florez

St. Augustine, Fla.

Michael P. Florez, 43, St. Augustine, FL, formerly of Minot, ND, passed away Saturday, August 3, 2024, at Trinity Hospital in Minot.

Mike was born July 5, 1981 to Carl and Carol (Berdahl) Florez in East Lansing, Michigan. He spent his entire youth traveling throughout the United States with his parents. He lived in Detroit, MI, Macon, GA, Miami, FL, Fredericksburg, VA, Los Angeles, CA, Johnstown, PA, Chicago, IL, Minot, ND, and North Bend, WA by the time he was 18. He moved to St. Augustine, FL, in 2005.

Mike was a natural born musician. He took his first guitar lessons when he was 10 years old and quickly mastered just about every other instrument. Mike fronted several bands in his early twenties including Crash Avenue in Minot, Hating Hilary in Seattle and Roll Out the Guns in St. Augustine. Mike’s weekend jam sessions at Jacks in St. Augustine, drew numerous talented musicians from all over the world who came to play with Mike and his fellow jam musicians.

Michael was a talented and creative song writer who produced several CDs of songs written by him and his band members. He could not walk by a music store or a piano without stopping to play a couple of songs for everyone. Mike was the owner of Light It on Fire Productions which at one time produced St. Augustine’s premier monthly music magazine, Ignition Music.

Mike would always tell everyone before a show that he had to go to his job as a rock star for a couple of hours. As the frontman for several bands, he would work his guitar like a maestro as he strutted across the stage or duck walked on top of the long bar at some club his band was playing at that night. He played to small crowds and large crowds, but his favorite times were just strumming his guitar and singing a song for his young son and daughter and jamming with all of his friends.

Mike collected friends everywhere he went. He would talk to anyone about anything and smiled and laughed the whole time he was doing so.

Mike had three true loves in his life. The first was Cheri Jackson who was with Mike in the beginning of his music career. Cheri carried Mike’s guitars and amps to many shows and gave him a beautiful daughter, Savana Ocean Florez. Mike’s second love was Amanda Bindley who created a blended family adding Amandas’ children Riley and Alyssa to the club before giving birth to Mike’s handsome young son, Aiden Cristopher Florez.

In the past few years Mike spent his time with Kristina Morgan who spent their time together traveling the U.S. in their travel trailer accompanied by their canine companions Shredder, Roxi, and Izzy. They went to music festivals, spent time at the family cabin in the mountains of Colorado, contemplated life with the Courtyard Madonna at the world-famous Taos Inn in New Mexico and tried to touch heaven when they visited Devils Tower in Wyoming.

Mike’s daughter Savana described her father as artistic and creative but selfless and who cared about everybody. Amanda said Mike had a beautiful soul and a free spirit, who was proud to be a dad and who loved his food so much he took pictures of everything he ate and shared it with the entire internet. Kristina described Mike as a beautiful man who she loved with all her soul even though it took her awhile to convince him that sometimes the ideas he came up with might just be a bad idea and that you don’t have to buy a new guitar on every trip they took. Kristina said she would miss arguing with Mike about simple things like avocados. Cheri said Mike had a huge heart and would take in strays and help them get started in life. He always talked through his music, and even though he could sometimes be a big pain, everyone loved him. Cheri said he definitely put his mark on this earth.

Mike lived a rich and full life in his 43 years. He was a good man who had demons that haunted him throughout the last decade. All who knew him knew of his struggles, but all continued to love him despite the ups and downs he experienced with his addictions.

Mike was preceded in death by his older brother, Christopher Pascual Florez. Mike has gone on now to share his next great adventure with his brother.

He is survived by his loving family and he will be missed by all who knew him.

Funeral: Thursday, August 8, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at Thompson-Larson Funeral Home, Minot.

Interment: Rosehill Memorial Park, Minot, ND. Visitation: Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Thompson-Larson Funeral Home, Minot.

Those wishing to sign the online register and share memories may access the online obituaries section at (www.thompsonlarson.com).

Published by The Minot Daily News, August 7, 2024.