Michael "Mike" Sowell

View Video Tribute View Funeral Webcast Mr. Michael Herbert "Mike" Sowell, 62, employee of Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home, died Saturday, October 31, 2015 at his residence on South High Street. Funeral services will be conducted Wednesday at 10:00 A.M. at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home with Rev. Tommy Vann officiating. Burial will follow in Rose Hill Cemetery. The family will visit with friends after 4:00 P.M. Tuesday at the funeral home. The family suggests memorials to Rose Hill Cemetery, P. O. Box 1015, Columbia, TN 38402. Condolences may be extended online at www.oakesandnichols.com. The Maury County native was the son of the late Jack Pat Sowell and Mary Elizabeth Johnson Sowell. He was a 1972 graduate of Columbia Central High School. Always a hard worker, at a young age he began employment with his family's business Sowell's Grocery on the Public Square; and he had enjoyed many other job opportunities with Monsanto, Columbia Specialties, Columbia Construction, Union Carbide, and Hyperion Seating before joining family members at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home. Mike was a loving husband, a proud father and grandfather, and trusted friend. Throughout his life, he loved sports and competition, from playing baseball in his younger days to coaching Little League Baseball and Soccer for his children. He was very active and supportive of all the endeavors of his children. He was an avid fisherman and hunter. Mike was truly "a jack of all trades"; he could do or fix anything and was always willing to help anyone in need. When no longer able to work fulltime at Oakes & Nichols, Mike adopted Rose Hill Cemetery as his personal project and helped keep it clean and repaired. Mike was reared in Garden Street Presbyterian Church and had more recently attended Westminster Presbyterian Church. His life of strength, love, and untiring determination will continue to influence the lives he has touched. Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth "Liz" Smith Sowell whom he married September 3, 1976; daughter, Rebecca Sue Sowell of Columbia; sons, John Michael (Ciara) Sowell of Mount Juliet; Jack Cecil Sowell (fiancée Jessica Carol Osborne) of Culleoka; grandchildren, Brooklyn Elizabeth Sowell, Madisyn Kelly Sowell, Emma Grace Sowell; sisters, Mary Pat Denning and Frances Ann McCain, both of Columbia; and several nieces and nephews. Pallbearers will be David McCain, Patrick Denning, Andrew Legg, Matt Moritz, Douglas Roberts, Bryan Ridley, Doug Williams, John Churchwell, and Mac Rochelle.