Michael “Mike” John Bostock, age 77, of Scottsbluff, peacefully left this world to be with the Lord, Saturday, July 3, 2021. His funeral service will be held 10:00 a.m., Thursday, July 8, 2021, at Northfield Church in Gering with Dr. Kiley Callaway officiating. The service will be livestreamed on Bridgman Funeral Home’s Facebook page. Interment will follow at Fairview Cemetery in Scottsbluff with military honors provided by Nebraska Army National Guard and American Legion Post No. 36. Mike’s CAN AM Spyder will lead the procession and his wife Shirley Brunner Bostock welcomes any other bikes to come and join in a last farewell ride to the cemetery. Friends may visit from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, July 7, 2021, at Bridgman Funeral Home in Scottsbluff. Memorials may be made in care of the family and sent to Bridgman Funeral Home, 2104 Broadway, Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69361. Online condolences may be left at www.bridgmanfuneralhome.com.
Mike was born January 4, 1944, in Brockton, Massachusetts to Homer and Mada Bostock. He graduated from Silver Lake Regional High School in Kingston, Massachusetts. He served in United States Army Security Branch/Personnel from March 1, 1965 to February 1, 1967. Mike and Shirley Brunner, originally from Scottsbluff, married on December 29, 1990, in Gering. They resided in Orange County, California residence there until retirement in June 2001. They then purchased a home in Scottsbluff where they resided until November 2020.
Mike was a successful small business owner for more than four decades. In early 1970’s Mike started and ran Family Inn Restaurant in Wisconsin. After selling the successful restaurant, he moved to California where he met Shirley in 1983. She had a 34-year career as a teacher in the Irvine (California) Uniform School District. A lifelong love of tinkering with of engines and all things mechanical, Mike designed a machine for cleaning blinds. His invention led Mike to a long successful career in the blind cleaning business. He owned and operated Sparkle Blinds for manufacture, installation, and cleaning of blinds. Mike and Shirley operated three Sparkle Blind California locations in San Diego County, Orange County, and Los Angeles County until they retired in 2001.
Retirement didn’t last long, in 2002 Mike and Shirley opened ABC Blinds and Shades in Scottsbluff. Throughout ABC’s successful 12-year run, and for many years after, Mike was affectionately well known around Scottsbluff as “The Blind Man.” Mike loved developing friendships with the customers he worked with in their homes. Mike’s warmth, kindness and infectious love of life and people turned customers into friends.
After retiring again, Mike’s longtime love of cars, go-karts, and racing evolved into a love of motorcycles. Mike loved riding to many Sturgis rallies and local rides with his family and large group of friends. While in California, Mike attended flying school and did a solo flight. His busy life owning three businesses interrupted the goal of learning to fly. Mike was a very talented mechanic and loved to get his toys running. He built his 1941 Chevy in his garage while living in Tustin, California. He enjoyed the camaraderie of the car clubs until his love of motorcycles revived. He took many trips to east coast to see family and relatives, and rode throughout California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and Wyoming. He also enjoyed his time with many local coffee groups to catch up on the good ole boy’s gossip. Mike had a deep love of animals and doted on his and Shirley’s cats and dogs over the years, especially his beloved Sparky and Laddie.
Mike will be sadly missed by his beloved wife of 37 years, Shirley Bostock; sisters, Audrey Donnelly of Florida, and Meredith Piscitelli of Boston, Massachusetts; brother, Jerry Bostock of Glendale, California; and many, many friends, as well as numerous nieces and nephews throughout Scotts Bluff County, and coast to coast from Massachusetts and Virginia to California.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Homer and Mada Bostock.
