Michael D. K. Minkiewicz, of West Tisbury, aged 85, died on Sept. 11 at Falmouth Hospital from complications related to Parkinson’s Disease.

Mike was born in Warsaw, Poland where his father was an engineer at Ursus manufacturing. Their happy life was tragically interrupted by the Nazi invasion of September 1939. They escaped via Romania and eventually to France, where several attempts to obtain passage were finally successful. Leaving from Portugal, they sailed to to Baltimore and then by train to Montreal. Their first morning, his father tried to order hot chocolate and Mike was very surprised to get a chocolate ice cream soda.

His father had tutored him throughout their journey and Mike was well ahead of his peers when he started school. He completed high school early and received his bachelor of engineering in honors physics from McGill University in 1953, aged 19. After some graduate work, he was employed at Canadian Marconi where he was swept up in the Canadian Brain Drain as American military contractors sought out engineering talent for a rapidly expanding industry. He, along with 20 of his co-workers, came to Airborne Instruments Laboratory, first in Mineola, then Deer Park, N.Y. His specialty was radar systems and he worked on projects in places ranging from Florida to the Marshall Islands to Alaska.

On a visit home to Montreal in 1963, he met Catherine Hospodarewska through mutual friends. Her parents had also emigrated from Poland during the war and she was an architectural student at McGill. They were married the next year and set up home in Hampstead, then Huntington, N.Y. Their children, Christianna and Andrew, were born during the early 70s.

Mike was an avid and skilled sportsman and his family followed as best they could. He enjoyed skiing in the Laurentians, Vermont, Europe, and Colorado, racquet sports, rock climbing, hiking and sailing.

In the 80s, the military industry slowed down and Mike chose early retirement. The family moved to Wayland. Eventually, the empty nesters moved to Brookline to sample a more urban lifestyle. Along the way they had purchased a camp in Martha’s Vineyard, hidden away in North Tisbury, where they found a congenial lifestyle and Mike took up fishing with his usual ardor. After Cathy’s retirement, they rebuilt the house as a year-round residence.

The many organizations on the Island provided opportunities for social involvement. Mike was a member of the First and Third men’s lunch group, Vineyard Haven yacht club, the Rod and Gun club, MV Surfcasters and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.

He is survived by his wife, Cathy, his children, Christianna and Andrew, as well as daughter in law, Kate Myers and their children, Annie, Sophie, Mikey and Mary Clare. Memorial services are planned for later in the year.

In lieu of flowers, please direct your generosity to The Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust, P.O. Box 96, Menemsha, MA 02552.