Michael James Rooney January 11, 1942 – May 6, 2025

Published 6:30 am Thursday, May 22, 2025

Mike Rooney was born a fourth generation Californian in Los Banos, California to Alfred “Bud” Rooney and Harriet McClurg Rooney. His early days were spent on his family’s dairy ranch with his younger brother Thomas and several cousins, where they fished in the canals and hunted ducks when they weren’t working or in school.

Mike was both a football player and band member at Los Banos High School. He worked to pay his own tuition at Fresno State College, where he was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho and the Horticulture Club. After meeting and marrying fellow coed Karen Knourek, the couple moved to El Capitan Ranch, just north of Santa Barbara, where Mike became a caretaker of the ranch’s avocado orchards.

Growing up in the open spaces of the San Joaquin Valley heavily influenced Mike’s need for space to call his own the rest of his life. Shortly after Mike and Karen moved to Santa Cruz County, California in 1971, they purchased a 30-acre ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Mike would eventually build two different homes for his growing family and also planted one of California’s northernmost avocado orchards. An outdoorsman at heart, he taught his three daughters to hunt and fish, to ski and ride horses. Family vacations usually involved camping in even bigger open spaces, such as Yosemite and Yellowstone national parks. On his own, he enjoyed fishing with close friends in Alaska.

Mike’s career spanned agriculture to real estate to construction. While living in California, he helped bring food to tables as a field manager on California’s Central Coast and served as a volunteer captain for the Salsipuedes Fire District. In the mid-1990s, he purchased Quality Truss in Redmond, Oregon, which he grew to a successful enterprise that was sold to Parr Lumber in 2007. In Central Oregon, Mike was an investor and co-developer in West Powell Butte Estates, a community of 20-acre lots. Mike again built two different homes on his properties, each a loving example of his rigorous work ethic and attention to detail. An excellent chef, Mike was passionate about cooking and barbecuing for family, friends, employees, and for other large gatherings.

Mike loved spending the winter months in Kauai with Karen and occasional visitors. World travel also brought him much joy, as he appreciated the unique character of each locale they visited. That his favorite song was Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” is no surprise.

Mike fought cancer with dignity and fortitude. His beloved Karen preceded him in death by only four weeks. He leaves behind his three daughters Kristen Rooney-Gleeson, Michelle Warford, and Pamela Rooney and their families; his brother Tom and his family, as well as wonderful friends whom he dearly cherished.

Karen and Mike’s family is grateful for the love and support of Partners in Care in Bend, Oregon https://www.partnersbend.org/donate and requests any gifts in their memories be made to this organization that cared for them with grace and dignity in their final months.

Please check legacy.com for a future memorial service date