of North Little Rock, AR

January 4, 1938 - April 26, 2022

Obituary for Michael Wilson Danchenko

Michael Wilson Danchenko, 84, recently of North Little Rock, Arkansas, passed away in his home on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. His final moments of life were shared in the loving presence of a few family members, including his wife of 63 years, Mary.

Pastor Mike's life will long be celebrated and honored by his many friends and people he introduced to the Lord, but especially by his surviving family members, his wife Mary (Marilyn) Danchenko; his daughter, Kim White (Doran); his three sons, Jeff, Tad (Magan), and Josh Danchenko; his much-loved nine grandchildren; and five great grandchildren; and his surviving siblings, Ted Wilson and Diane Ramm.

Pastor Mike was preceded in death by his parents; four brothers; and three sisters.

Michael was born the 5th child into a very poor Minnesota family on January 4, 1938. Weighing in at almost three pounds, he was immediately placed in a shoe box alongside a filled and heated Mason jar to keep him warm. As a gift of love, his parents took their newborn son to their Russian-immigrant great aunt and uncle, Ruby and Taris Danchenko. Their hope was that he would thrive on the Wisconsin family farm with an abundance of sunlight, fresh cow's milk, home grown produce and family history. His mother visited, but Mike grew up on the farm and was officially adopted at 18 years old.

Pastor Danchenko was humble, mild-mannered, unassuming until he stepped into the pulpit to preach or into the Bible Institute classroom to teach. His life mission was simply to preach and to teach. And he did. His many years of ministry included Clarksville, Deer, North Little Rock, Russellville, and Van Buren, Arkansas; Blairsburg, Iowa; and Houston, Texas. Even in his most recent Emergency Room visit, gowned-up and connected to oxygen, he quickly changed back into his street clothes, washed his face, and combed his hair to attend to the young man he heard loudly crying out for pain relief from sickle cell anemia. Without regard for his own medical condition that brought him to the ER, Pastor Mike talked to the young man about the Lord. Only after the comforted and now-quiet patient accepted the Lord as his Savior, Pastor quietly returned to his own ER bed.

Those of us who will remain on this Earth a bit longer can only hope that Pastor Mike has already found a place to go ''junking'' in the mornings, a few ole buddies to challenge in Cribbage, and a couple of antique car shows to scrutinize in the late afternoons. Oh, and a Dairy Queen to celebrate his sweet tooth with a large DQ Blizzard to go, please!

A Celebration of Life for Pastor Michael Wilson Danchenko will be held Saturday, May 7th at 11:00 a.m. at The Church at Burns Park, 295 W. Military Drive in North Little Rock.

Donations may be made to ''thechurchatburnspark.org'' where Pastor Mike ministered for many years.

Obituary Provided By:
Roller-Owens Funeral Home
5509 John F. Kennedy Blvd.
North Little Rock, AR  72116
www.rollerfuneralhomes.com