Michael Peter Mena

Michael Peter Mena, known to friends and co-workers as "Mike", was born September 30, 1955 to parents Peter & Teresa Mena. He was the oldest of five children and grew up in the Lincoln Heights area of East Los Angeles where he attended Salesian High School. In 1973 he graduated high school and enlisted in the Army. While in the Service, he trained as a medic, then a clinical specialist. After being honorably discharged, he worked as a Registered Nurse in the ICU of Alhambra Community Hospital. In 1981 he began attending California State University Los Angeles and graduated in 1985 with a Bachelors Degree in Digital Electronics. Later that year he married his beautiful wife, Maria and began working at McDonnell Douglas in Long Beach, CA. In 1998, he and his wife relocated to South Carolina where Michael began working for Gulfstream Aerospace. He served as the Program Manager on the G550 and led the team that was selected as the 2003 winner of the Robert J. Collier Trophy, the highest level of recognition given within the U.S. aerospace industry. In 2004 he was appointed as the Director of Advanced Cockpit Programs and assisted with overseeing the development of the ultra-long-range G550 & G500 business jets. In 2006 he was recognized as one of the hundred most important Hispanics in Technology & Business by the Career Communication Group, Inc. Most recently Michael added the title of Inventor to his list of accomplishments by helping in the development of a patent for "Methods and Systems for Displaying Backup Airspeed of an Aircraft". Those who knew Michael in his personal life knew him as a man who loved his family and enjoyed spending time with his daughter, Marissa, son-in-law Edwin, and grandchildren Jacob, Isabella, Analisa & Michael. He loved playing the congas, a skill he began to develop as a teenager. Michael was also a fan of sci-fi t.v. and movies; most notably Star Trek & Star Wars and loved learning about physics, space and particle theory. If you had a question about something, you could count on him to have the answer, or find it for you, then explain it to you. He took his unofficial role as advisor and counselor seriously and is remembered fondly by many as the smartest man they knew. Michael passed away peacefully on December 2, 2015 surrounded by the people he loved and who loved him. Michael is preceded in death by his father, Peter and is survived by his wife Maria & daughter Marissa. He leaves behind 4 grandchildren as well as 4 siblings and his mother. Memorial Services will be held at 10:30am on Monday December 14, 2015 at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Bluffton, SC with a reception immediately following at St. Andrew's Hall. A second memorial will be held at 10am on Monday December 21, 2015 at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Whittier, CA with a reception immediately following in the Ruddy Center. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in his name to Doctors Without Borders or Smile Train. Services will be held at 10:30am on Monday December 14, 2015 at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Bluffton, SC with a reception immediately following at St. Andrewâ