Michael Egan
Michael was born on March 4, 1969 to William Anthony and Irene Egan. Michael was the second of four boys - older brother Tony and younger brothers Patrick and Danny. His father and youngest brother Danny are also deceased.
He grew up in Pennsauken, NJ attending St. Peter's Elementary School in Merchantville and served as an alter boy at the adjacent church. He attended Camden Catholic H.S. for two years and graduated from Pennsauken H.S. in 1987, where he also played soccer.
From 1991 - 1999, Michael was in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served in the Persian Gulf War, as well as in conflicts within Haiti, Liberia and Bosnia. In 1999, he returned home in an effort to live a "normal" life. It was during this time that he was married and had a daughter.
In 2003, Michael enlisted in the Army National Guard Reserves.
Mike most recently lived in New Castle, DE with his wife, Maria and daughter, Samantha. They purchased their house just a few months before his January 05 departure bound for Mississippi and California. He returned home from training for 10 days in June before going back to Mississippi where he departed for Iraq along with the rest of his unit.
Michael arrived in Iraq in July 2005. He was to serve one year in Iraq with a two week leave in November. Yet, on September 19 when Mike and several others were on patrol, a bomb was detonated nearby. Michael was killed, along with 3 others (Will Fernandez, Bill Evans and Mark Dooley). He was 36 years old.
Michael was buried with full military honors. His viewing was held at Ingelesby Funeral Home in Pennsauken on Monday, September 26 and the Mass was held at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Merchantville on Tuesday, September 27. He is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Cherry Hill.
Words can never truly express how extremely proud we are of Mike and of his valiant decisions. A humble and modest man of few words, Michael was the epitome of peacefulness; non-aggressive by nature, and would never utter a hateful word of anyone.
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