Michael "Mike" Sikorsky Jr.'s Obituary
Michael (Mike) Sikorsky was born in Kansas City, MO, where he lived till he was 9 years old. At 9, he moved with his parents, Michael Sr. and Mildred (Defebaugh) Sikorsky and his brother, Jerry, to Southern California. He left California in the early 1990’s for Arizona, where he lived until his passing.
As many know, Mike was an international full-time traveling square dance caller and called his first dance almost 54 years ago on July 7, 1972. He was passionate about square dancing and totally loved what he did. He put himself through college by calling square dances, earning a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management. He liked to tell people that he received his diploma in the mail, looked at it, and thought “I did it, oh wait a minute that means a real job,” then respectfully put the diploma in a dresser drawer and never saw it again.
He was known as the dancing caller who had everyone watching him as much as dancing to him. He also danced in the squares using a headset and going from square to square. Sometimes you’d be dancing to his calling and find yourself stopping to watch him when you were supposed to be dancing. This was especially true for the girls. So, it was sad to see him not able to dance while he called due to his ALS, but the key is he could still call and call a good dance. In fact, he called a dance the night before he became ill with an infection, sepsis and ultimately respiratory failure.
Mike loved welcoming dancers to his dances, hanging out by the door once his equipment was set up, and chatting with people during the breaks. He used to look for whoever wasn’t in a conversation on a break and go talk with them. Making everyone he talked with feel special.
Over the past couple years, Mike wanted to help callers teach people how to square dance and created a Beginners Teaching Guide (BTG). One of his caller students asked if he could do one for teaching the Plus level of square dancing, a Plus Teaching Guide (PTG). He fully finished the PTG and was going to go back to edit the BTG to finalize it, but unfortunately, time ran out. Both of these guides he gave away freely to anyone who wanted them. He had more than 100 people who got the guide updates on a regular basis.
Internationally, he called all over the world as well as on many cruises. His travels took him to Germany, China, Taiwan, Sweden, and many more places over the years. Most recently, he called in Tokyo, Japan, and on a cruise from Tokyo to Vancouver. In addition to traveling internationally, he called all over the United States, many places he would call for the clubs annually.
In addition to square dancing, Mike was a songwriter. One he highly promoted was “Bradley the Brown-Nosed Reindeer.” He made a few CD’s/albums and music videos of songs he wrote.
He is survived by his wife, Janet Long, his daughter Monica (Mike) Goss, granddaughters Autumn (Jared) Kacirk, Jaimee (Justin) Boman, great granddaughters Jennica Kacirk, Juliette Kacirk, Amelia Boman and Eleanor Boman, his brother Jerry (Janet) Sikorsky, niece Kristen (Justin) Bishiop, nephew Ryan (engaged to Kim) Sikorsky, great nephew Ethan Bishop, great nieces Alice Bishop and Lucie Bishop and cousins Lynn (Rich) Eames, and Karen Defebaugh.
A small graveside service will be held on August 6, 2026, at 2 p.m. at Culpeper National Cemetery, 501 East Chandler Street, Culpeper, Virginia. No, he was not a veteran, but his wife is.
A celebration of life will be held at a later date. At this time, it is anticipated that the celebration of life will be held in Arizona, probably during the winter dancing season. Information for both will be posted on Mike’s Facebook page as well as on Janet’s and Monica’s pages.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to any of the following or a charity of your choice.
CALLERLAB Scholarship
Hospitality House of Charlotte 1400 Scott Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28203, https://www.hospitalityhouseofcharlotte.org/.
Janet and Monica were able to stay here during Mike’s hospital stay
ALS Association, https://www.als.org/.
An online guestbook and tribute wall are available at https://www.foundandsons.com
Found and Sons Funeral Chapel of Culpeper is serving the family.
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