Personal Side
Mike and his wife Donnell have been married 42 years, now reside in Brule, WI, near the south shore of Lake Superior, raised three children—Tasha, Nick and Doug—and enjoy spending time with them, their spouses—Eric and Sara—and nine grandchildren—Noah, Carson, Jackson, Dougie, Mikey, Julia, Lucia, Aria and Link.
Donnell and Mike travel frequently to the children’s homes in Minneapolis, California and Florida, as well as to Mike’s parent’s home. The entire family, including his siblings Sandy, Barb and Deanna, find time every summer to get together at “the home in the woods.”
Since retiring in 2019, Mike has been enjoying fishing for walleye or trout on the banks of the Brule River in spring, summer and fall. He also plays in a horseshoe league.
Before his move to the rural woods, he was very involved in his church—First Lutheran Church of Crystal in Crystal, MN—where he managed the electronic bells, served as usher and assisted with Communion distribution.
For many years, Mike was a youth group leader with the church, coordinating an annual trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) in northern Minnesota. Klemesrud revealed, “This intense trip involved miles of portaging—carrying a boat or canoe between navigable waters—sleeping under the stars and taking measures to ensure no unwanted guests (i.e., bears) visited the campsite.”
Beyond family, outdoors recreation and travel, golf makes his list of lifelong interests—and FTA’s annual golf tournament stands on the list of regular play. When teeing off he’s been known to declare, “Grip it and rip it!” Klemesrud said, “He loves a good laugh.”
Accolades from the Hall
Denny McGee, himself inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005, remarked, “I’ve known Mike since he was with ‘Inky Lou.’ He is a true pioneer in the ink business. To his and Lou’s credit, they succeeded in transitioning people from solvent- to water-based inks, overcoming countless trials and tribulations. As a result, they really changed the industry.
“Mike has always given of his time to many trade associations—FTA being among the list of benefactors,” McGee remembered. “He supported and served as a mentor on many educational programs at the high school, community college, trade school and college level. If you asked Mike to do anything for the flexo industry, he’d be there and, of course, he’d give his all to the cause.”
Bruce Riddell, the 2006 inductee, stated, “Mike has been a friend and colleague for many years. He supported us—Spectrum Label—along in the introduction of water-based ink technology, when everyone was afraid to try them. He invested in the education of many narrow web shops in training and development of the water ink technology. He has spoken at countless FORUMs and workshops over the years, educating the flexo industry in many areas, including Flexo Quality Consortium (FQC) studies and expanded gamut research.”
Riddell further noted, “While he has left his stamp on the history of flexographic development, he is also known as a gentleman and a technical guru to the Flint Group. He has the respect of many FTA and TLMI printers and ink manufacturers.”
Similarly, Dave Nieman, who joined the Hall in 2019, recalled, “Mike always showed a sincere interest in educating customers on ways to improve their processes and was a true professional in every way. If we—All Printing Resources—ever needed assistance with a training seminar we were putting on, or in helping diagnose a print problem, he was always there for us.”
Mark Cisternino, FTA president, himself a Hall of Fame Member, inducted in 2016, offered this comment: “Mike has been an icon in the label community for as long as I can remember. Going all the way back to the ‘Inky Lou’ days, he has been instrumental in working to grow the business and provide advancement opportunities industrywide through education at all levels.”
Joe Tuccitto, FTA’s director of education and who is based in Mike’s home locale, stated, “Mike was a mainstay in the Twin Cities when it came to flexo. Everyone here knows him. He’s been in the business so, so long. He truly grew up in it and contributed to its success. He really has a passion for flexography and a commitment to both its further advancement and continuous improvement.”
Advice & Counsel
Words of wisdom that Mike himself spoke to FLEXO, way back in 2000 and again in 2003, ring as true today as ever. Once again, they speak to his being ever in tune with the industry—a true mark of a member of FTA’s Hall of Fame. “In the narrow to mid web market segment, the biggest advancement over the next few years will be in prepress, anilox and ink technologies. Prepress keeps pushing the envelope… I am always amazed at the advancements that are made.
“Selecting the right ink can be crucial in improving your press uptime and reducing the risk of reruns and rejected jobs, which could result in costly claims. Test ink on the substrate before going to press. Determine ink’s color strength capabilities. Check color hue availability. Always have the technical information available for press operators to reference—prior to and during the pressrun. Finally, determine the end-use requirements of the ink necessary for the application before going to press: lightfastness, heat resistance, chemical resistance, lamination bond strength, scuff resistance, adhesion requirements, stampability, odor and retained solvents.”
In essence, at the time he was addressing printers’ top priorities and daunting challenges as they pursued their usual quest—one that stands today: Maximize efficiencies, minimize waste, drive errors out of the flexographic process, deliver consistent and repeatable results, and boost productivity to drive the trajectory of the bottom line upward. “Nice!”
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