Michael Joseph Sponseller

Michael Joseph (Mike) Sponseller of New Market, Maryland died Thursday, April 24 at Kline Hospice House in Mt. Airy, Maryland, surrounded by family and friends.
He was born April 8, 1942 in Frederick, the son of the late George William Sponseller & the late Lillian Louise Leakins. He spent his childhood in New Market and later Baltimore, where he moved with his mother. Mike attended the McDonogh School, Staunton (VA) Military Academy and Towson High School. He married Margaret Anne (Nancy) Kelly on January 18, 1962; together they had two children.

He was an avid sportsman and outdoorsman whose passions included hunting, fishing, motorcycle riding and racing and flying. Mike chased billfish from Ocean City, Maryland, to the Outer Banks, Florida, the Bahamas, and Venezuela. He made local Ocean City news- and the cover of Coastal Fisherman magazine- one summer for catching three White Marlin in one day, alone on his 24’ Blackfin boat, “Jellybean.” He caught the record Yellowfin tuna in the State of Maryland in July 1979 and held that record for several years.

Mike was an expert marksman and longtime member of the Smith & Wesson Collectors Association, Monocacy Pistol Club, and more recently the Chambersburg (PA) Rod & Gun Club. He helped re-establish the Frederick County chapter of Ducks Unlimited in the early 1980s, enjoyed game bird hunting and waterfowl hunting in the Maryland countryside and on the Eastern Shore. He hunted wild game throughout the mid-south and the midwestern United States.

A professional motorcycle racer and later, owner of professional race teams, Mike loved supporting future national and world champions. He was a member of the Baltimore County Trail Riders Association for 56 years. Having had as much fun on land and at sea as a person could possibly have, Mike took to the skies in his forties, becoming a licensed helicopter pilot, flying regionally for both business and fun.

Mike spent his early career years in motorcycle parts distribution and sales, with MJS Distributors and later Cycle Warehouse, which he owned in partnership. In the late 1970s he returned with his family to his hometown of New Market, where spent most the rest of his career in the land development and home building industries, first as Minan Development and later Sponseller Homes.

On August 27, 1986, he married Elizabeth Brinkley Willson who predeceased him just weeks prior to their 35th anniversary in 2021. Mike is also predeceased by his parents and a sister, Sally Ann Grimes. He is survived by first wife, Nancy, their children Jennifer Webster (Chauncey) and Michael Sponseller (Becky Miller), grandsons Thomas and George Webster, and nephews Scott and Dwayne Grimes.

A memorial service will be held at Keeney & Basford Funeral Homes, P.A., 106 East Church Street, Frederick, Maryland on Friday, May 9 at 4 pm. Visitation will take place prior to the service from 2- 4 pm. Interment will take place at the convenience of the family at the New Market Cemetery, where Mike was a longtime board member.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to one of the following charitable organizations:

Back on Track Racers Recovery
115 W. Market Street
Warren, OH 44481
www.back-on-track.com

Pheasants Forever- Cumberland Valley Chapter
396 Aughwick Rd., McConnellsburg, PA 17233

The Billfish Foundation
www.billfish.org


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