Mike Spellman

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

As a bass player in dozens of Milwaukee country and rock bands over the years, Mike Spellman was a real pro, never hot-dogging or calling attention to himself, just playing what the music required.

But he did like to enjoy himself. That's why Saturday, following his instructions for his wake, the funeral home will display his body in his favorite recliner, with a Budweiser in his hand and his bass guitar nearby.

Spellman died Aug. 15 of a heart attack he suffered while driving back from a Green Bay Packers game where he had played a pre-game gig, sharing the bill with two national country acts. He was 54.

He could play rhythm guitar and bass, was a singer and songwriter and had skills in stage sound and lighting, say people who played with him over the years. He worked most of his musical life in the Milwaukee area, though he spent six years in Nashville, then toured in Norway and the United States with a Norwegian rock and blues act.

"He was a solid player and singer who always brought his A game to every performance," said Ron Kendricks, whose Ron Kendricks Band featured Spellman as bass player. "The stage is where he was really the happiest."

...At the time of his death, he was a bass player in three local bands - the Ron Kendricks Band, Geoff Landon and the Wolfpack, and Ronnie Nyles and Tallulah Who.

On Aug. 15, he had a Wolfpack gig at the Stadium View Bar & Grill in Green Bay near Lambeau Field, with major country acts Big & Rich and John Michael Montgomery also on the bill.

"He was super excited about it," Andy Spellman (his youngest brother) said.

On the drive back, he had a heart attack. He was taken to Appleton Medical Center, where rescue workers weren't able to save him.

So Saturday, his body will be propped up in his recliner with beer in hand at Krause Funeral Home, 9000 W. Capitol Drive. Visitation runs from 1 to 3:45 p.m., with a celebration of his life at 4.

His brothers are expecting hundreds of people, many of them musicians, to attend.

I have never attended a wake when the body of the deceased wasn't in a casket.

Without question, the body of Mike Spellman being propped up in his recliner with beer in hand at the funeral home will make for a very unusual wake.

It's not your typical arrangement, but the family is following Spellman's instructions. They're honoring what he wanted. That's very special.

Sadly, he died too young, but it sounds like he really loved life and he did what made him happy.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends as they mourn the loss of their dear Mike.