Michael Stephen Toepper

He was born on April 20, 1944, in Port Townsend, Jefferson County, Washington to the late Richard E and Berta (Harris) Toepper.

Mike graduated from Chimacum High School in 1962 and right after joined the US Air Force. His deployments included Reykjavik, Iceland, Antigo, Wisconsin, Alaska, Hill AF Base, and Mt. Lemmon just north of Tucson, AZ.

After the Air Force, he attended the University of Arizona where he got his degree in Electrical Engineering. After he graduated, he went to work for Schlumberger in the oil fields which took him all over the southwest. Mike went on to work for Hughes Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ. He was transferred to Long Beach, CA then to Indianapolis, IN right before Hughes was bought by Raytheon. That is where he met his wife, Julie. In 2001 Mike and Julie returned to Tucson where they both worked at Raytheon.

Mike retired on January 1, 2005. They bought property in Apache County, AZ. In 2012 they moved into the strawbale and frame house that Mike designed and built.

During his leisure time in Tucson, he volunteered at the Desert Museum. He was a driver for Baja Frontier Tours when they needed a driver. Some of the places he drove to were to Baja, California, Sur, Mexico for whale watching, Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, Copper Canyon, Mexico, and Death Valley, CA to name just a few. Mike also enjoyed long distance bicycle rides in New Mexico. In 1992 he joined the Pueblo Optimist Club Tucson. When he moved to Indianapolis, he joined the Fortville Optimist Club. In 2018-2019 he was the Governor of the Arizona District Optimist International. Mike enjoyed cooking, welding and working on restoring his 73 FJ40 Toyota Land Cruiser to name a few.

Besides his parents, Mike was preceded in death by his sisters-in-law Mary (Sayer) Toepper and Kathy (Anderson) Toepper; brother-in-law Lemuel V. Stinson, Jr.; mother-in-law Emma J Stinson.

He is survived by his wife of 22 years, Julie (Stinson) Toepper; his brothers: Richard B “Dick” Toepper and John A Toepper; sister: Marianne H Houghton; nephews: Daniel (Robin) Toepper, Brian (Veronica) Toepper, Kevin Houghton nieces: Vicki (Alan) Griner, Jessica Ontiveros Houghton, Stephanie (Cindy) Toepper, Anjela Toepper; grandnephews: Christopher (Taylor) Griner, Jason Griner, Geoffrey Griner, Shaun (Sara) Toepper, Derek Toepper, Alden Ontiveros Houghton, Emil Henry Ontiveros Houghton; grandnieces: Alexis N Scott, Heather (Cody) Taylor, Harper Houghton, Jennifer Griner, Rebecca (Joe) French, Anneliese Toepper, Laney Warner, Kaelyn Davis and several great-grandnephews and great-grandnieces.

A Celebration of Life is scheduled for Saturday, October 10, 2026, at Mama Louisa’s at 2401 South Craycroft Road in Tucson, AZ from 11:00am – 2:00pm. There will be a buffet. This will be an informal gathering to remember Mike. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to a local Optimist club or to the Optimist International Foundation, 4494 Lindell Drive, St. Louis, MO 63108 in memory of Mike Toepper.