{"id":30940,"date":"2026-02-18T08:28:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T14:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=30940"},"modified":"2026-02-18T09:07:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T15:07:20","slug":"michael-thomas-mike-macklin-60-of-mason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30940-michael-thomas-mike-macklin-60-of-mason\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Thomas &#8220;Mike&#8221; Macklin (60) of Mason"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>Michael Thomas \u201cMike\u201d Macklin, age 60, of Mason, Illinois, passed away on Friday, February 13, 2026 at his home in Mason, Illinois.<\/p>\n<p>Funeral service will be at 3:00 PM on Thursday, February 19, 2026 at Mason Christian Church in Mason, Illinois, with visitation one hour prior to the service. Mark White will be officiating. Visitation will also be held on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 from 5:00-7:00 PM at Mason Christian Church. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Pagel Funeral Home, 100 N Olive, St. Elmo, Illinois, to assist the family with final expenses. Online condolences may be expressed at www.pagelfuneralhome.com.<\/p>\n<p>Michael was born on October 29, 1965 in Effingham, Illinois, the son of Danny J. Macklin and Mary Lou Althoff. He married his beloved wife, Tamela \u201cTammy\u201d Williamson-Bierman on June 24, 2017 in Effingham, Illinois. He lived a life marked by energy, love, and a deep appreciation for the simple joys that made each day meaningful. Mike dedicated his career to serving others as a Radiologic Technologist for over 33 years.\u00a0 He graduated from Southern Illinois University of Carbondale in 1993.\u00a0 He took pride in his work and in the relationships, he built along the way. He was known at work for playing \u201cWho Sings It?,\u201d bringing laughter and lighthearted competition to his coworkers and always the first to celebrate someone\u2019s accomplishments. Energetic and loving, Mike found happiness outdoors fishing, walking through the woods, working on outdoor and house projects with his son, Ryan, and gardening. He loved playing pinochle with family, losing at Trivia, and couldn\u2019t pass up a competitive game of pickleball. His other hobbies included being a part- time fish fryer alongside his brother at Danny\u2019s Bar &amp; Grill.\u00a0 Whether he was saying, \u201cI have the time,\u201d or smiling and declaring he was \u201cLiving the Dream,\u201d he approached life with a spirit that reminded others to slow down and enjoy the moment.<\/p>\n<p>Mike is survived by his beloved wife, Tamela \u201cTammy\u201d S. Macklin (Williamson-Bierman); his children, Ryan Macklin of Champaign, Meghan Klingenberg of Altamont, Kate Klingenberg of Altamont, Lucas Bierman of California, Stefanie Bierman of Dieterich, Melinda Kimmer (Bierman) of Durand, MI, and Sarah Niebrugge (Bierman) and her husband John of Altamont. He was a proud grandfather to Kaden, Hunter, Noah, Atlas, Adele, Claudia, Meridian and Daphne, each of whom brought him immense joy. He is also survived by his mother Mary Lou Klein (Althoff) and her husband John; siblings, Bill Macklin of Effingham, Cheryl Beam (Charles) of Effingham, Steve Klein (Mary) of Farina, and Jim Klein (Julie) of Dieterich.<\/p>\n<p>Mike was preceded in death by his father, Danny J. Macklin.<\/p>\n<p>More than anything, Mike will be remembered for his warmth, his humor, and the way he made the people around him feel seen and valued. His legacy lives on in the family he loved deeply and in the countless memories shared around card tables, wooded trails, side by side rides, and family gatherings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael died on Friday, February 13<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":30943,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obits"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Michael Thomas &quot;Mike&quot; Macklin (60) of Mason - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/30940-michael-thomas-mike-macklin-60-of-mason\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michael Thomas &quot;Mike&quot; 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