Michael Baptiste Mayes, 48 years, was taken from all of us too early. Complications from COVID-19 (UK Variant) took away this absolutely amazing man at 7:20am, May 24, 2021. 

As a result, the love of his life, his mother, and Krista (Hayden’s mom) have been given the privilege to write his life story that we were so profoundly lucky to be a part of. This living biography of Mike will continually be edited since we will remember such fantastic events of Mike’s life throughout.

From his mom; Mary

Mike was born in Fort Nelson, B.C. Hospital – my seventh baby.

When Mike was 13 years old,we were living in Fort St. John, he was sneaking out of the house after we all went to bed.  One night we followed him – he was going to the arena and playing hockey with the older guys,  we went home and nothing was said.  A couple days later he asked if he could play hockey and we said “Of course you can!”   We said we would get him some used equipment and he informed us he wanted to be a goal tender.  We got him his equipment and he joined a team as a Goal Tender and this started his hockey career, travelling to places like Edmonton, Tumbler Ridge, Dawson Creek, etc and the Williams Lake Winter Olympics ( which they placed in the top three).

As part of his equipment, we had to get him a full faced mask guard and a mouth  guard to cover up his swearing cause if he was caught swearing he would be suspended and he was the only Goal Tender the team had.  Hahaha 

Always in our hearts, will miss you and love you forever – Mom and Cliff

From Krista & Hayden

Mike and I spent thirteen years together. Like all relationships there were good times and down times but the marriage brought with it love, learning and laughter. The greatest gift of all came from it – our son, Hayden. Even when the marriage ended, the friendship didn’t and the memories made will live on forever. We are so grateful for the time we had with Mike. He was a great friend and amazing father to Hayden. Mike will never be replaced or forgotten. Rest in Peace.

From Tamara, The Love of His Life ♥

I met the most amazing kind hearted man that swept me off my feet forever near the end of 2012 and his name is Michael Baptiste Mayes.  We texted for the first two weeks, and found we had a lot of the same passions in common; ball, biking, and golf. We decided to move forward with an actual date and we closed the place down since we could not stop talking and we never looked back. Mike brought so much to our relationship; love and laughing everyday, great conversation, great communication, RC racing, lots of music, and so much more.  He continued to bring such an array of passions to our relationship through the years;  Philadelphia Flyers aka Broadstreet Bullies was one of them. I was not a huge hockey fan, but he showed me why he loved the Flyers (check out the HBO Documentary on Broadstreet Bullies and you’ll see why) and I fell in love with them. Although they’re struggling right now, we will always be a Flyers Family.  We have also travelled; 2013 brought us to Philadelphia and New York at Christmas time; caught the Flyers last game of the year;  had our first Philly cheese steak sandwich on the steps of the First Bank of of the United States; Independence Hall; running up the stairs just like Rocky and we visited Joe Fraser’s gravesite. We then took an Amtrac to New York City and spent 7 days there. We chose to rent an Air B&B in Queens to blend in like New Yorkers, almost a mile walk from the apartment to the subway there and back everyday. During this trip we did WWE at Madison Square Gardens; Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Central Park and of course the 911 site. We also made it to a Giants Game which became the most pivotal moment for me and who Mike was and what our relationship had become…during the football game it started to rain really hard, our seats were down almost at ground level and not protected by anything. Since security was really tough we were not allowed to bring an umbrella and the stadium had run out of ponchos so there we were with great seats waiting for us in the hard rain. Mike ran down way ahead of me to get to our seats, which at the time I wondered why he left me in the wind to get to these seats, but when I finally got down there he made sure he sat in my seat first so that my seat was warm and dry for me. My heart was wrapped with such love when I saw what he did. We didn’t last long at the game and made our long journey by train ride back to Queens where Mike caught a bad cold and became quite sick and we spent 2 days in our apartment nursing him back to health and we continued on with our New York travels. What a fantastic trip!  I find myself trying to figure out which beautiful memories to write about Mike first, so many great memories to write about.  As mentioned earlier Mike has a passion for golf as well and he was an exceptional golfer; boy could he hit that ball. His favorite golf course was Enoch where he held a membership until it was closed down. He also brought RC racing and rock crawling into my life where we would go to different areas of Edmonton and rock crawl, we would play frisbee golf, and make our way to the ball diamonds where we would play catch and I would pitch to him and he would knock those balls out of the park!  He taught me to throw a better ball in fact. Mike has a passion for shoes, especially running and golfing shoes, he would never pass up a chance to buy unique shoes including the same Converse shoes that Rocky used to train with throughout our trip to Philly, loved that about him. He loved new baseball equipment and would hunt the internet for the next ball glove that was unique. He found a glove that he absolutely LOVED and as it happened this glove was located in Langley. So we paired that purchase up with a trip back to my hometown (Maple Ridge). Flew to Abbotsford, drove right past the store to Maple Ridge and Mike picked up his beautiful new glove and when we arrived at my parents he proceeded to play catch with our nephew Jake. Both great ball players.  Mike had passions for unique equipment such as Drift Trikes and 5th scale RC’s and Trikke bikes. When I met him he had purchased a Trikke bike, 6 months later he bought another one and our summers were full of triking down park paths.  We loved taking out his 5th scale to empty commercial yards so that he could push the limits loudly.  He also purchased 2 motorized Drift Trikes and we would drift around in empty parking lots. I always struggled with drifting but Mike was a natural at everything actually, and people would pull over and video him on his drift trike.

Mike’s career with Homes By AVI began in early 2012. He loved his position as a site assistant but more so he loved the people he worked with. Many many fun times to be had during his day and even into the evening with some great memes and texts. As a site assistant Mike was exposed to a lot of amazing people, and I would come home to hear such great, funny and borderline which I can’t talk about on-line stories. He loved going to work everyday, his respect for each and everyone of you was profound and heartfelt, he loved all of you!  Homes By AVI had yearly ball tournaments that provided a great time for all and Mike loved them, we hope these continue.

Each moment spent with Mike was a blast, just sitting beside him on the couch and watching some of his favorite shows like X22, Qanon, Forged in Fire, Deadliest Catch and Wicked Tuna. Reruns of Seinfeld were always entertaining too. He loved our animals; in fact through Homes by AVI, we rescued a Husky, not really knowing what that actually meant.  After a few interesting walks at the dog park and losing him over night, we were fully aware of what we agreed to getting a husky, lots of exercise, a leash and patience! Winters at home consisted of skiing with Hayden’s school, tobogganing the hills, campfires even at -15 and enjoying our family at home. After a day of work, I always arrived at our home with Mike cleaning up and supper was started.  I constantly thank God for bringing this man into my life. He made me a better person and it was an absolute privilege to have him in my life as long as I did which now feels like just a blip. He has given me such lessons to take with me and Hayden into our future. 

Mike loved so many things but most of all he loved his family. Hayden, his 10 year old son is the apple of his eye. He is an amazing father and has instilled so many beautiful lessons of love, kindness, politeness, being respectful and also to speak his mind respectfully.  Hayden is so much like his dad when he was born that these qualities come naturally to him. Weekdays and weekends, we never parted ways without a family hug and I love you. This was the most important attribute I can say about us. Never leave without saying…I love you with a giant hug and a kiss!  This man brought so much to the table, it was never empty. So kind, gentle, smart ass, and so funny.

We laughed and loved everyday. He always made sure that Hayden and I came first, out the door, always sure to ask if I was happy and doing alright.  

Many many hearts have been broken with Mike’s passing and we will absolutely miss him everyday.  

To my soulmate, and greatest love of my life, I will do my very best for Hayden to make you proud. I will forever ache in my heart my love until I am able to see you again at Heavens Gate….Tamara

From “Homes By AVI” (Mike’s employers)

“Mikey” Mayes unquestionably will be greatly missed.  Not just by his Homes by Avi family, but many trades and suppliers too.  It is amazing how many lives he touched within in the housing industry. It’s especially impressive when he has built so many relationships, and has influenced so many people for the better.  A great example of a man, and a great example of devoted work and skill. 

Of the many memories we’ve been replaying as we struggle to say goodbye to our friend and colleague, the one that stands out the most is his immense love for his son.  Sometimes it feels like we’ve came to know Hayden better than some of our own family members. Mike would beam of pride when speaking of his son, Tamara, or Ranger. 

Mike quickly received a reputation as having the “biggest heart” on the team.  You could ask Mike for anything, and he’d find a way.  Be it another site staff member, reno’s around the office, his service was always offered with a smile, and nothing that needed attention was ever left wanting.  

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Mike had a tendency of coming in on his weekends either getting ahead of a busy time or completing something that was still on his mind. We all got to know that if he left anything on a Friday to do for a Monday (as he would say) he would come in over the weekend and have it done. Mike took a lot of pride in what he was responsible for and it showed in his workmanship. 

We all come to know people differently, but there is something about having a friend like Mike on your team, that can never be taken for granted.  The connections made are lasting, and it feels awful to say goodbye. We were better with Mike, but we promise to do our best to live up his example