Michael James Beightol, 64, of Erie, passed away at St. Vincent Health Center on December 25, 2010, after a brief illness.

He was born in Erie, on March 14, 1946, to the late Daniel V. and H. Madelyn Beightol. Mike grew up in Erie and graduated from Academy High School. He was owner of the Rathskeller Cafe from 1977 to 1985.

He re-built the Rathskeller into a successful business by involvement with the Blades hockey team, local baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He was also involved with local indoor and outdoor volleyball leagues and introducing group bus trips to Erie Blades and Buffalo Sabres hockey games.

His sons started playing hockey when they were four years old and immediately became involved in working with coaches and league organizers. Eventually, Mike became VP of Erie Youth Hockey, where the program grew consistently. He also organized training sessions and camps with the Buffalo Sabres, player involvement in Hockey Night in Buffalo and Boston.

His decisions helped students pursue hockey successfully at the high school level as well as college level. Mike was also the President of the Cathedral Prep Hockey Club where he was instrumental in building the program from 18 players to over 150 players.

He added two teams, created summer camps, and hired coaches that took the Varsity team to its second State Championship Title in 1997. Every player on the Cathedral Prep hockey team went on to college. That statement is one that Mike was very proud of! Mike also coached youth soccer, the boys Strikers soccer team, the U-14 Boys Keystone State Team.

Mike was also very involved in his ceramic tile career. He worked for many upscale builders for many years until he finally developed his own tile company, The Tile Gallery. Mike introduced upscale tile, stone and glass to Erie many years before those items were commonly found in Erie.

He traveled to many meetings with the Tile Council as well as Tile classes in Chicago and Florida. His desire was to offer only the best to Erie clients.

Mike is best known for being chosen to work with the original tiles that he installed at East High School, which was featured in the national publication, the Tile Letter Magazine. As a result of the East project, he also worked on the removal of ten antique water fountains that were scheduled for demolition at East High.

Mike worked with the Tile Heritage Foundation who recommended his services for the largest tile preservation project in the U.S. at that time. Mike took his expertise in the tile industry and went on to work for Mapei Corporation as a technical support consultant.

In 2002, he transitioned to a sales position with Braxton-Bragg Corp., where he was one of the top salesman for his territory. Mike was a devoted husband to Nikki, his wife of 35 years, and a loving father to his two sons. He was preceded in death by his parents and leaves behind his wife, Nikki; his son, Michael and wife, Jen of Cleveland; his son, Jeremy of Pittsburgh; and three brothers: Ronald and wife, Nancy, Douglas, and Thomas and wife, Carol.

He also leaves many cousins, nieces and nephews. His dedication to his wife and his sons will be cherished forever.

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