June 2023 Volunteer of the Month – Mike Doan

Mike Doan has been a WAS-H member for the past 10 years. He started volunteering for WAS-H during IWE when Dawna Hasara was the Director. He became part of the IWE take-in/crating/re-crating crew. For the past several years, Mike has been the leader for the un-crating/re-crating IWE team. Mike’s organizational and leadership skills shine in this role. He has a system, and it works! 

In addition to volunteering for IWE, Mike is also our Open Studio Coordinator. Every Friday morning you will find Mike greeting new and regular members as they arrive to participate in Open Studio. He can make coffee and cut mats, too!

Mike is also the “unofficial” custodian of WAS-H. He likes to keep this a secret, but you can often find him on a ladder changing a bulb, switching out batteries in the clock, or watering the plants outside. “I just like to help,” Mike says. “And WAS-H is a good organization – this is my way of giving back to WAS-H for what it does for me and others who like to paint.”

Mike was born in Salt Lake City but moved several times when he was a child.  He lived in Tripoli, Libya for 4 years (2nd-5th grades) and moved to Ankara Turkey for 4 years (8-11th grades). He finished his high school year in Houston and then attended A&M University. Mike graduated with a math degree, which set him up for a career in computer science. He worked for various oil field services companies. He wrote software to find oil. Mike retired from Schlumberger a few years ago.

Mike lives with his wife, Marsha, and their cat, Smog. Marsha enjoys crocheting and knitting and Mike likes to play golf, bridge and other card games, in addition to reading. One of their favorite pastimes is to go on a cruise. “Marsha and I went to one of those Murder Mysteries in Brookshire, TX, and we solved the mystery. The prize was a free cruise-that was our first one. When we went on the free cruise, they also had a murder mystery and Marsha solved that one -- for ANOTHER free cruise,” explains Mike. They’ve been cruising ever since! 

We want to thank Mike for giving his time and helping WAS-H to continue its mission, "to further the cause and interest in water-media." Our volunteers are the lifeblood of this organization, and we couldn't do it without them!