Robert Michael Tengram was born on October 22, 1951 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was in a large family, with two sisters and a brother older than him and eventually one brother younger than him. His main memories of Louisiana were boats, rather than cars, going up and down the roads because a hurricane had struck. Soon after, he moved with his family to Oklahoma City, where he spent most of his youthful years.
In Oklahoma City, he attended Putnam City schools where he was a proud 1970 graduate. In school, he quickly learned there were a lot of others named Robert so he started to go by Michael or Mike.
After graduation, he joined the Air Force and was happy to serve his country during the Vietnam conflict. After four years in the Air Force, he returned to Oklahoma City where he eventually met his future wife, Paula. During their dating, they spent a great deal of time on the disco floor. Michael never did understand why more people didn’t like disco music.
Paula and Michael were married on November 27, 1976. They happily greeted their two daughters, Miranda Nicole, born August 22, 1979 and Stephanie Michelle, born July 23, 1983.
Shortly before Miranda was born, Michael started his career with IBM, on February 8, 1979. He always was very proud of his employment with IBM and was with them for over 34 years. It was IBM that took Michael and his family to northern California for two years. He worked in San Jose and they lived in Gilroy, the garlic capital of the world.
Two years later, IBM decided they should move again and they relocated for employment reasons for the last time, this time to the Dallas area, where they settled in Carrollton. There they enjoyed their kids dancing and doing a variety of sports as they grew up. Michael was proud that his girls graduated from R.L. Turner and went on to college to pursue their dreams.
College had always been important to him and though he was very busy, he also finished his college work and earned his Bachelors in Business in 1993 from LeTourneau University. He became the first college graduate of his family’s generation and took great pride in that fact.
Not a lot of people knew it, but of Michael’s pastimes he enjoyed were musicals in film or on stage. One of his favorites was The Wizard of Oz. His fascination with the Wizard of Oz meant he really enjoyed the stage version of Wicked.
After the girls graduated, wanderlust struck and Michael and Paula moved to Allen. They enjoyed their six years there, but in an effort to downsize, they moved to Prosper. Unfortunately, a month later, Paula became very ill and was hospitalized until they finally came up with a very rare diagnosis. She was unfortunately disabled and bound to a wheelchair. Michael was probably at his best because he became Paula’s 24/7 caregiver. He helped her around the house, he fixed their meals, took her to doctor appointments and he worked very hard to ensure everything that could be done in the house for Paula was done.
At this time, Michael got to witness, (and pay for) the wonderful marriages of both of his daughters to fantastic young men. Through these marriages, he knew his daughters would be well taken care of and he would no longer have to worry about them.
Unfortunately, as so often happens, the caregiver became sick. Michael was first diagnosed with glioblastoma in January of 2012. He braved the surgery, the radiation and the chemotherapy. These treatments gave him 10 more good months with his family. It made it possible for him to see the birth of his first grandchild, Sophia Michelle, something that was extremely important to him.
But, with this disease, as is usually the case, the tumors returned with a vengeance. No treatment the doctors tried had any success and at this point, he and his family chose quality of life over harsh treatments that would most likely do nothing to stop the tumor growth. So with nothing left to try, they accepted his diagnosis and enjoyed the time he had left, bringing him strawberry milkshakes or whatever food he requested.
Michael is survived by his wife, Paula Kay Tengram; daughters and their husbands, Miranda Nicole and Christopher Dell’Accio and Stephanie Michelle and Julian Holguin and their daughter and his granddaughter, Sophia Michelle Holguin. He is also survived by two brothers and their wives, Thomas M. and Cheryll Tengram and Lawrence A. and Judy Tengram and two sisters and their husbands, Barbara J. and Ted Anoatubby and Rose and Craig Hyams. Michael is also survived by a number of nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews. The list would not be complete without Roxie the dog of the home and the two grand-dogs, Bailey and Toro.
The family will receive friends at a Visitation to be held at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow in Frisco on Tuesday, October 8, 2013 from 6-8 PM. Funeral Services will be held on Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 5871 Virginia Parkway, McKinney, Texas 75070 with Rev. Patrick McCoy officiating. Interment will immediately follow at Ridgeview Memorial Park in Allen, Texas