Deceased AMCA Members in 2026

[Keith Kizer]

Deceased AMCA Members in 2026

When members pass away, we are sometimes notified by other members or family members. In some cases, we find out through this forum or chapter newsletters, but we felt it would be best to build a list for each year. At the very minimum, to list those members we have lost. This is by no means a complete list, only those we have been notified of. If you know any of them and have more information, please start a new topic with their name and pass along more information, bios, stories, etc. Help keep members' names alive by sharing their stories - Keith

#4564, George W. Barber, Jr., Birmingham, AL, Member since 1991. Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum Founder
#11176, Dick Brickel, Bryan, OH, member since 2002
#40284, Robert "Captain Bob" Conn, Gardnerville, NV, member since 2020
#24438, Geoffrey Craig, Audubon, PA, member since 2014
#46484, Mike Eagleson, Grand Bend, ONT, member since 2024
#9701, Mitchell Floding, Eagan, MN, member since 2000
#24589, Nelson Lee Graves, Charlotte, NC, member since 2014
#10842, Charles "Mutt" Hallam, Wills Point, TX, member since 2002
#35800, Mike Johnston, Milwaukee, WI, member since 2019
#9108, Burt Martin, Edgewater, FL, member since 2002
#40052, Michael McGlynn, Kannapolis, NC, member since 2019
#28071, Ray Hattaway, Cairo, GA, member since 2015
#4738, David Monahan, Lino Lakes, MN, member since 1991
#6671, Michael Paquette, Brown Summit, NC, member since 2002
#10947, Jim Sadilek, Carson City, NV, member since 2002
#73, Jane Schultz, Lemars, IA, member since 1969
#3978, Steve Slaminko, White Heath, IL, member since 1986
#455, John Smagach, Kintnersville, PA, member since 1966. 50-Year + Member
#1111, Barry Stelford, Urbana, IL, member since 1971. 50-Year + Member
#5728, Paul Thomas, Sonoma, CA, member since 1999
#24826, Merle Vander Sluis, Holland, MI, member since 2014
#845, Margaret Welch, Virginia Beach, VA, member since 1972. 50-Year + Member
#4222, Jim Wildbarber, Bakersfield, CA, member since 1994
#35022, Terry Zabel, Sobieski, WI, member since 2018

[1939wl]

Thank You Keith,
Much appreciated.

[micmac]

RIP Gentlemen. I knew none of you but I know we had old bikes in common and we would've been friends.

[Jerry Wieland]

I hadn't heard that David Monahan had passed away.

RIP Dave

[duffeycycles]

Jerry, David passed last thursday 22nd. My pic of David on the Carnival ride at Anamosa Vintage Rally 2014. Another pic of his friends on the ride.

Monahan David 2014 Anamosa Vintage Rally.JPG Monahan 2014 Anamosa.JPG

[ihrescue]

Chesapeake Chapter Member Mike Merling AMCA 6623

I was just coming here today (8/4/26 ) to share a very well written tribute I saw on Chesapeake Chapter's Facebook Page to CCAMCA member Mike Merling AMCA 6623 who passed away in May 2026 after battling cancer a second time. Mike was a resident of Baltimore, MD. The write up below is from AMCA member Thomas Feeser, known for his business Replicant Metals. Thomas wrote about as good a tribute as you'll ever see and I thought it deserved to be a notification to members of the passing of Mike Merling, pictured below. I didn't get permission from Thomas to use this but I am putting it in quotations and gave the source - the date posted was 5/18/26 but the experiences are classic motorcycle lore over many years and repeated by many of our members.

merling.jpg

From Tom Feeser. I am adding that Mike was a proud member of the Chesapeake Chapter. We will all miss him.

As most motorcycle enthusiasts now know Michael Merling of Golden Age of Motorcycle Clothing has passed on to the final fashion show in the sky. The one hopefully we won’t attend this season, but Mike went ahead to reserve seating for his many beloved associates. My friend and small business brother lost his battle to the Big C a couple days ago. During our last telephone conversation, while in hospice, he was charming as always even though he assured me this was the last hurrah. There was halting banter and choked remembrances of all the episodes of life during the last 30 years of our acquaintance. Many pleasant memories centered on history of the world as we know it,,,, vintage motorcycles, antique furniture, swap meets, steam shows, military reenactments, and brainstorming marketing techniques for our small businesses. On the entrepreneurial level I had many pleasurable hours of driving Mike to Davenport Iowa for the Chief Blackhawk show, vending next to him at Southern National, spending evenings at Wauseon and Chesapeake when the dust of the day had settled, and shaking off the chill at Oley.

But I was also privileged to share yearly holidays with him at my home, he was a welcome guest and always enlightened our social calendar. He came armed with a cooler filled with his personal recipe for Wassil and Colonial recipe handmade desserts, he requested we provide main courses and he always did the trimmings. As we traveled we amused ourselves, when skirting Chicago heading west we had a game of counting north side or south side of Interstate 80/90 the number of billboards for lawyers, fireworks and adult parlors of entertainment. Always amazed at the similar numbers and mentally calculating what must be spent monthly on the roadside art solicitation. We laughed at ridiculous discoveries at flea markets that maybe were incorporated into his wardrobe changes on a whim,,,,, sometimes Ulysses S Grant, Casey Jones, Kit Carson, Eddie Rickenbacher, Clyde Barrows or maybe Doc Holiday, he never ceased to entertain in historic fashion. We dedicated days of roadwork to antiques shopping, local architecture research, ice harvest festivals, horse plowing contests and national historic events. Always an excited by any small nugget of a discovery, he was a chosen family member and confidant and will constantly be missed.

As a Christmas remembrance to our friends and business associates my wife and I would send handmade chocolates and nuts, not Michael’s cup of tea, he always requested sour fruit hard candy in his Christmas holiday stocking. When traveling he preferred diner food and always ordered baked chicken pie, pork and sauerkraut or meatloaf and gravy, a guy that knew what he liked and was vocal about it, what a privilege to have known him! He exhibited no desire for socialite style quiche Lorraine, creme brulee or jellyfish salad. I need for the world to remember him as I always will, he should not be forgotten.

When he shared the discovery of his returning plague he was optimistic and still guarded. He had previously been spared some twenty years earlier and confided that he was thankful for that period of unblemished health. I believe that stay was a gift to establish his legacy as a historic clothing purveyor and independent business owner. It was never about investments or making money, it was about what he loved, sharing his knowledge with customers and making them happy. The finest boots on the planet, flamboyant shirts, coats, hats and gloves, and always perfect attention to detail. He never compromised with materials and no expense was spared for his presentation. A crowd pleaser with true disregard for amount of effort expended to achieve originality. The canvas and wooden pole tent, crockery water dispenser, folding wooden church chairs and creative displays were the hallmarks beyond his world class quality products. Michael was the KING.

I remember his excitement for excursions to Washington with days at the National Archive and Patents researching hats, jodhpurs, vests, gloves and leather jackets. His relentless trips perusing maps of the canal systems of the Mid-Atlantic states as he searched for current evidence of Colonial America in small towns, the military reenactments, rodeos, steam shows and his pursuit of defunct turn of the century clothing stores and manufacturers was mind boggling. He always focused on authenticity and originality in manufacturing details and materials.

I remember all the years of vending at motorcycle events, the chaos of unloading and setting up the canopy and displaying of parts, the flocks of disorientating customers attacking us before we were fully prepared, such was life. But at the end of the day when we sat down in the shadows with a bourbon in hand and blackened steak on the grill we could reflect on the day with a smile. At the end of every show we would part with a hug and the vision of the next show as we drove in different directions down the road. Sadly, all that will be missed in the present, now I must say goodbye to a friend and hello to the most pleasant of memories.

Adios and farewell “ZigZag Man”. You are not forgotten, Major Tom 5/18/2026