Michael Sagers

Michael Neil Sagers was born on a hot August day in 1955, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. As a newborn, he was really sick and had to stay in the hospital for 7 days. The total hospital bill was $7.50. His dad always joked, “You get what you pay for.”

Soon after he was born, the family moved to Burley, Idaho. They lived in a basement apartment with a staircase that went down to the front door. When Mike was 2, he climbed up the steps and climbed up onto the railing, then fell head-first down to the basement floor. His mother heard a noise and rushed out. His dad gave him a priesthood blessing and he was fine. He is still known for being “hard-headed”.

Mike loved horses! When Mike was 7 his dad bought a horse named Patch-Eye. Mike would climb onto the fence and hop onto his back. He would ride around the pasture bareback and hang on for dear life. He said that sometimes the horse would turn sharp to throw him off. There were times he stayed on, and sometimes he would fall off. But he never stopped riding. He loved every moment.

He loved throwing rocks. He would throw them at the telephone pole, until the pole was in splinters. He really wanted to have a job where he could throw rocks. He got a job at the Anderson Land Ranch where he would throw rocks into the dumpster. He was in heaven. Mike was young when he learned the value of hard work. When Mike was 11, his dad was on the Fair board and hired Mike to clean the grounds. He picked up trash under the bleachers, painted, cleaned the bathrooms and many other odd jobs.

When Mike was in high school the family moved to Oakley, but Mike was not going to go to school there. His dad worked in Burley and would drop Mike off and then he’d get picked up after sports practice. He was tall and strong, and a star athlete. He played every sport, and lettered in all of them. He was also in the high school choir. He had a lot of friends and was very popular. He had a great sense of humor. He and his friends would pretend they were radio disc jockeys and tell jokes, laughing for hours. He never forgot a joke.

He worked summers before his mission moving sprinkler pipes. He started at 4 a.m. He worked in the garden, which he hated, and milked the cow every day. He never drank milk back then, because he knew what fell into the bucket!

After high school he attended BYU for one year. He served an LDS mission in Ireland. He said it was a million-dollar experience he wouldn’t pay a dime to repeat. He loved the beautiful country, and said the people there were the kindest. At that time, it was a very difficult mission. The average for baptisms was ½ a person, but Mike had 3 baptisms. They were fond memories.

After his mission he went back to BYU and majored in Agricultural Economics. He married and had 4 boys. In 1994 he divorced and Mike continued to raise his boys. He quit his job in retail and started working as an almond rancher in Bakersfield, California.

He was proud of his accomplishment of running 2 marathons; one in Los Angeles and one in San Francisco. He wanted to continue running but developed bone spurs on his feet, so he started riding a bike. He would ride 40 miles every morning.

In 1996, he noticed a pretty blonde in his ward. Liz and Mike were married 4 months after their first date.

Mike was a fantastic cook. When they married they made a deal that Liz would do all the cleaning if he did the cooking. It was a match made in Heaven.

In 2003 Mike changed careers. He went back to school and earned a Master’s Degree and began teaching technology at Ridgeview High School. He loved teaching children and was “the favorite teacher” to many students.

In 2009 Mike was diagnosed with Ocular Melanoma and was treated at UCLA Medical Center. He retired in 2017 and he and Liz moved from California to Twin Falls, Idaho. He and Liz took many trips and traveled to over 100 countries and all 7 continents. Mike was an adventurer who loved scuba, snorkeling, motorcycling, hot air ballooning, and anything that was daring and fun. His 4 favorite adventures were riding his bike through the busy traffic of Hanoi, Vietnam, dog sledding in the Arctic, flying over the Valley of the Kings in a hot air balloon, and going on safari in Botswana. He and Liz had many adventures together.

In 2020 Mike’s cancer returned and he lost his eye. He had a good sense of humor about having a fake eye, and one time in church while sitting on the stand his eye fell out and landed on his chest. Without missing a beat, he turned to the Stake President sitting next to him and said, “My eye just fell out! Does that ever happen to you?” Another time he was at the bank to meet with his financial advisor, and when he got home Liz looked at him and gasped. His eye was upside down, and all she could see was the date stamped on the corner.

In 2024 the cancer metastasized to his lungs, liver and abdomen. He fought hard. He had courage and a positive attitude. We never heard an angry word from him during this time. His biggest worry was leaving Liz.

He loved his children and grandchildren. He loved spending time with them and wished he had more time.

Mike had a strong testimony of the Savior and served diligently in all of his callings for the LDS church. He loved the Lord and did all that was asked of him. He always said that, being sick brought him closer to the Savior and was so grateful for that divine compensatory blessing. He will be missed by all who knew and loved him.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, August 15, 2026 at theTwin Falls 1ST ward building, 847 Eastland Ave North, Twin Falls, Idaho. Burial will follow at 2:30 p.m. at the Basin Cemetery in Oakley, Idaho. Family will receive friends from 10:00 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. Saturday at the church prior to the funeral. Arrangements are under the direction of Morrison Funeral Home, Rupert, Idaho.