Mickey Joseph Martinasek

Mickey J. Martinasek, 88 Mickey J. Martinasek, a loving husband, loving father and a kindhearted gentleman passed away at his home on April 18, 2016 following his battle with cancer. Mickey was born in Brno, Czech Republic on December 3, 1927. He spent his early years in Czechoslovakia. His father was an engineer whose job took him to Tehran, and Beirut where Mickey and his late sisters attended an American High School in Teheran and a French High School in Beirut. Mickey followed his father""s career path and graduated from college in England with an Engineering degree. The communist takeover of his home country drove his family from Czechoslovakia to South America where Mickey""s first engineering job was with W.R. Grace in Bolivia. It was there he met Ruth, his loving wife of 61 years. Mickey was transferred to Florida in 1956 where they raised their three children and Mickey enjoyed a successful career with W.R. Grace""s Phosphate Division in Bartow as an environmental engineer. Mickey is survived by his wife, Ruth, and their three married children: Dr. Dushan Martinasek (Mary), Danilla Sawyer (Ron), and Vivien Carroll (Ed). He is also survived by his six grandchildren (Paul, Leah, Kyle, Tyler, Alex and Lauren) and one great-grandchild (Lily). Mickey loved tennis, Duplicate Bridge, and the mountains of North Carolina as well as his family and his life-long friends. With his ability to speak multiple languages, Mickey volunteered as a translator for the Sun-n-Fun in the recent past. He enjoyed greeting visitors in their native language and welcoming them to the Fly-in. We will miss his laugh, his jokes, and his big heart. A memorial service and celebration of Mickey""s life will take place Saturday, April 23, 2016 at Heath Funeral Chapel at 4pm. His family will host a reception following the service at the facility""s reception center. Service: 04/23/2016 Heath Funeral Chapel 328 S. Ingraham Avenue, Lakeland, Florida 33801