08/04/2015
Michael Ray Bullis, loving husband, father, and grandfather, passed away on Aug. 4, 2015, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
Michael was born on June 8, 1945, in Des Moines, Iowa, to Marvin and Avanelle Bullis.
After a decorated High School basketball career, Michael joined the Air Force and proudly served his county as a medic in Vietnam. After Vietnam, he served another 20-plus years in the Army and Air Force as a Registered Nurse. He retired from the Air Force in 1993 with the rank of major, and then continued his career as a nurse in obstetrics at the North Okaloosa Medical Center in Crestview, Florida, from 1993-2008.
During a 30-plus-year career in nursing, he was repeatedly recognized and lauded as one of the best nurses in the entire Air Force, and then again in the state of Florida working in the civilian sector. In 2005, he was named North Okaloosa Medical Center Nurse of the Year.
While in a nursing college in Des Moines, Michael met the love of his life, Jeri Lee Mayer from Keota, Iowa. After a romantic courtship, they married in 1970 and had a beautiful marriage that lasted 45 years.
They started a family in 1972 with the birth of their daughter Traci and added a son, Eric, four years later, in 1976. Between 1979 and 1990, the family was stationed in California twice, Alabama once, and moved to Niceville, Florida in 1990 for his last assignment in the Air Force.
Michael spent the last 25 years of his life on the beautiful gulf coast of Florida where he lived fully, loved deeply, and touched the lives of too many people to keep track of.
Blessed with a great smile and a big sense of humor, Michael’s passions in life were spending time with his family, Iowa Hawkeye and Florida Gator sports, daily trips to Starbucks for coffee, and spoiling his three grandchildren rotten.
He was always most concerned with how others were doing and went out of his way to brighten the lives of those around him daily.
He is survived by a big group of family that loved him deeply and will miss him forever, and they include the following: loving wife of 45 years, Jeri Bullis; daughter and son-in-law, Traci and Keith Owens; son and daughter-in-law, Eric and Naomi Bullis; grandchildren,
Elizabeth Owens, Tyler Bullis, and Matthew Bullis; sister, Pat Stouffer, and husband, Scott; and sister-in-law, Judy Norenberg, and her husband, Gary.
Per Michael’s wishes, the family has chosen to celebrate his life together in private and will be visiting some of his favorite places and doing some of his favorite things.
Published Online in Northwest Florida Daily News on Aug. 8, 2015