Mike Foster

Charles Michael Foster, beloved husband, father, "Papa", and friend, passed away June 1, 2014. He was born on March 21, 1947, in Cedar City, to Charles E. Foster and Alice Trussel. Mike married Susan Rasmussen in 1977 and later divorced. He married Mimi Ericksen in 1992 and was a wonderful father to her 4 children. A few years after she passed away, Mike reconnected with his college sweetheart, Kimberly Ann Horrocks, and they married in 2004. He then stepped into the role of father to her 3 children. He loved his role as father to his 7 step-children and loved being "Papa" to his 10 grandchildren. Mike was very kind, loving and patient. He could sit for hours playing with his grandchildren and truly enjoyed every minute of it.

Mike had a passion for music and he loved to play his accordion. He belonged to an accordion association and had a keen knack for entertaining. He also loved to learn new instruments. He was passionate about everything he did and would practice for hours trying to get a certain rhythm or chord on the guitar. He was learning gypsy jazz guitar and attended several jam sessions with other gypsy jazz enthusiasts. His favorite guitar by far was the "cowboy guitar" that was given to him for a Father's Day gift.

Mike attended Olympus and Skyline High Schools, graduating from Skyline in 1965. He then went on to serve a French East Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1966-1969 - a 2 1/2 year mission as was common during that time period. He served mostly in eastern France and Switzerland. Upon returning, he attended the University of Utah and eventually transferred to Brigham Young University to major in Marketing Communications. He graduated from BYU on August 20, 1971.

After graduating from BYU he began his career as a writer/producer for KSL Television in Salt Lake City. Later at Ross Jurney Advertising, he was a copywriter for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Utah, Snowbird and the Utah Travel Council.

In 1977, Mike moved to Gardiner Advertising as an account executive, and was soon promoted to the position of vice president/creative director. For the next 10 years, Mike wrote, produced and directed national award-winning advertising for Commercial Security Bank, Dees Drive-ins, FHP of Utah, Snowbird Ski Area, The Utah Travel Council and Mountain Fuel. In 1988, Mike joined the nationally recognized Portland agency, Borders, Perrin and Norrander, who had recently acquired the First Security Bank and HealthTrust Hospitals advertising accounts.

When BP&N closed it's Salt Lake City offices three years later, Mike joined the Evans Group, where he continued to work on the First Security account and was Account Supervisor/Strategist for the WordPerfect Corporation account and Creative Group Head for the Utah Travel Council.

In 1993, Mike joined the creative staff at R&R Partners (the largest independently-owned advertising agency in the Western United States) serving as the Creative /Director for the Salt Lake City office. He also served as Account Supervisor/Strategist on the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico accounts and the MedPartners accounts. He was the first, and possibly only, person crazy enough to put two-dozen live babies on a conveyor belt for Pioneer Valley Hospital, creating a local TV spot that captured national attention and was syndicated to hospitals nationwide. Few people have contributed more to Utah's advertising community over the past 40 years than Mike. While he was never one to hog the limelight, he quietly nurtured the majority of the state's most notable brands and ad campaigns, including Word Perfect, First Security Bank, Zions Bank, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Intermountain Healthcare (IHC), Ski Utah, Snowbird, Park City, and many, many more. His work has helped shape Utah's advertising landscape, and some of it, like his "Let's Disco Down to Dees" jingle for Dees Family Restaurants, is still remembered decades later. Mike helped grow some of Utah's most notable advertising agencies and won literally hundreds of awards for his creativity, including the One Show, Clio, Effie, ADDY and more. In fact, the evening before he passed, his work for the Department of Highway Safety won a Gold National ADDY award (one of just 75 awarded nationwide) from the American Advertising Federation. Here in Utah, Mike's "Deadbeat Dad" radio spot for No More Homeless Pets was the first ADDY Judge's Choice award, and was the reason the Judge's Choice category was created, since a public service ad couldn't win Best of Show. Mike's work always stood out from its peers as among the very best in America. Fortunately, Mike's ego never caught up with his talent. He was as likeable and humble as they come. Ask just about anybody who has worked in the Utah ad market for 20 years or more, and they'll have a fond story to tell you about Mike Foster. The entire Utah advertising community will be a poorer place without him in it.

As both a person and a professional, Mike set a incredible example. He was talented, humble, gracious, loyal, dedicated, faithful, and giving in every part of his life. He threw himself into any task or any assignment wholly and selflessly, and not once did he ever consider something not to be his job. He served as President of the Douglas Neighborhood Association for two years and was just reinstated for a second term and was also a member of the ECC Community Council. He also served in the Douglas Ward and created a bulletin/program each Sunday for approximately 8 years.

Mike is survived by his wife, Kimberly Ann Horrocks, father, Charles E. Foster, brothers, Brian (Deanne) Foster and Ken (Sue) Foster and sister, Chris (Dave) Granere.

He is also survived by his step-children, Aimee (Christian) Gianni, Molly (Jake) Freestone, Zachary Chappell, Brett Chappel and Melissa (Chris) Martinez, Jaimee (Kelly) Roark, Brett (Selja) Engar. Grandchildren include Luke, Nico, Dylan, Tyler, Daisy; Jayson, Gabriella, Gavin, Hudson and Emery. His numerous nieces and nephews also loved and adored him.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, June 7, 2014 at 11 am at the Douglas Ward, 721 South 1200 East, Salt Lake City, UT. Friends and family can visit Friday evening 6:00 - 8:00 pm at Holbrook Mortuary, 3251 South 2300 East, and at the church Saturday morning 9:30-10:30 am prior to the service. Arrangements can be sent directly to Holbrook Mortuary and guest are invited to view and leave messages in the online guestbook.