Lifelong Washington County resident Michelangelo Fields passed away late last year following a tragic automobile collision.

His passing left a gaping hole among his family and friends, but, in the words of one sister, added an angel to the heavenly realm.

“God took an angel,” says his sister Glenda of her brother ‘Mike’, the youngest of nine siblings that numbered five boys and four girls. “He was just a quiet remarkable man.”

Mike’s quietude was such that his kind gentle demeanor is what casual acquaintances recall most about the man, widely known as the Maola Dairy employee who delivered milk to restaurants and stores in the area on a regular basis.

Stacey Johnston at J and J Wrecker Service says Fields parked his Maola delivery truck overnights at his US Hwy 64 site for 15 years; he came to know Fields as a quiet gentle man.

“I never heard anyone say a harsh word about him,” Johnston says.

Piggly Wiggly manager Teddy Bryant says, “I only knew him through the business, but he was a great guy.”

Carlina Sawyer, manager at Dollar Tree, smiles reflexively when asked about memories of Fields.

“He was just a good person,” she recalls. “He would come and make sure the cooler was full and in order, then he always enjoyed shopping a little bit afterward...”