Celebration of life to be held for XPS Solutions' Mike Roberts

MSM was saddened to hear about the passing of Michael Anthony Roberts – Mike to most of us – who we worked with over the years during his tenure at XPS Solutions. "I am deeply saddened to hear about Mike’s passing," says Poppy Behrens, MSM Publisher. "He was an amazing friend and contributed so much to the industry over the years. He will be missed by many." Our hearts go out to his family and friends.

 

Here is a Facebook post from a close friend on behalf of Mike's wife, Sharon. You can also read the message in its entirety below.

 

 

My very good friend Michael Anthony Roberts passed away on Monday, November 24th from complications caused by Parkinson's. It was very unexpected. His wife, Sharon Roberts, is not on Facebook and asked that I post this message. His obituary is at the bottom of this post.

 

Everyone who loved Michael Roberts: you're invited to his Celebration of Life/Irish Wake on Saturday, January 17th, 2026. Please come share your memories and say good bye to someone who was full of life and fun and left us way too soon. We'll have light snacks and a toast to someone who knew how to live life.

As Mae West said: "You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."

 

For location and other information, please contact Rachal Wiski, Rob Donoho, Julie Francis, Karen Rust, or Melissa Woodward.

 

Michael Anthony Roberts was known by many names: Big Mike, Uncle Mike, Mikey, Mike, Ghost by the many people who loved him. He lived big. Laughed big. Loved big. Always the life of the party. Always in the middle of some mischief. Always with a good story.

 

These are the facts of his life: Born in Lakewood, California on December 14, 1960. A Southern California boy who grew up in Fountain Valley, Anaheim, and surrounding cities. Graduated from Loara High School in 1979. Moved to Vista, California in the early 1980s. Married in 1985 in Escondido, California. Moved to Plano, Texas in 1990. Worked very successfully in sales for most of his life. Died November 24, 2025.

 

But those are just dry facts that don’t capture his essence. They don’t tell you who he was or why he touched so many people’s lives.

 

Early on he was a wild one in the best possible way. He likely invented the selfie when he was just a kid. Don’t leave a camera around because if he got hold of it you would get your film developed and find his blurry self-portraits. He also had a wicked way with a garden hose if you were trying to leave the house for work. He and his friends tore around the Disneyland parking lot on mopeds (with security guards in pursuit), he surfed, he skied, he wrestled in high school. Loved going to concerts.

 

He went to his first concert when he was 14. The Guess Who with Aerosmith opening. Favorites included Van Halen, Aerosmith, and too many others to mention. He was at the Rolling Stones concert where Prince opened and got booed off the stage. He loved going to concerts and music from artists ranging from Whitney Houston, Luis Miguel, Gipsy Kings, Hall and Oates, Green Day, Billy Joel. His favorite play was Wicked and he saw it numerous times. He loved movies and movie trivia. He and Sharon often went to the movie theatre. He was a master at Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

 

From a young age he knew how to sell. He knew what people wanted and how to convince them he had just what they needed. His first sales job: selling his older sisters’ band candy.

 

He sold Kirby vacuums (even winning a trip to Hawaii), copy machines, water systems. He sold the first cellular phones in San Diego starting in 1986. He worked in sales for Cellular Communications Company, GTE Mobile Communications, MetroCell, AT&T Wireless, and Sprint. His roles included manager- and director-level positions. He sold pagers for National Dispatch Center. He sold logistical services at Brightpoint. Along the way he won trips to the Super Bowl, Puerto Vallarta, Naples, Florida.

 

He was a vice president of sales at XPS Solutions. If you wanted to know about cell centers for the self-storage industry and how that industry worked he was your man.

 

But here again, those were just things he did. A list of jobs doesn’t tell you the many friends he made or the people he touched along the way.

 

He met his wife, Sharon, when they both started new jobs as district sales managers for the Escondido Times Advocate July 8, 1985. That job didn’t last long for Mike; it wasn’t a good fit. But the love between Mike and Sharon did. It was a very good fit. They met in July and by October they were together and that was it. They married July 26, 1986, in Escondido. They had 39 married years together before he left way too soon. They did most everything together because they wanted to be with each other. They loved their families, their friends, and their pets (Romeo and Gracie miss their Daddy.)

 

Mike loved to have people over: pool parties were a favorite for him. Even if we were going out to dinner he always wanted to invite more people to come along. Who else would throw a combination Tupperware/kegger/pool party? For many years he and Sharon threw a Christmas Eve party with all the family and friends that wanted to be there. Even friends of friends were welcome. He used to drive Sharon a little crazy because he invariably invited more and more people and she was never sure if there would be enough food and drink for people. Or if they would all fit in the house or around the pool. But she learned to grow and be a bigger person and just go with it and enjoy the ride. They seemed very different on the surface but they shared important similarities underneath. And they made each other better.

 

Even Parkinson’s couldn’t keep him down. It may have changed the sound of his voice and the way he moved but he was still the same old Mike. He retired in May 2023 from XPS but still kept busy. He wasn’t one to give in to a stupid disease. He worked out (even converting his beloved pool table room to a workout room), boxed, took physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. He worked with a wonderful trainer, Kristie Miller. Because giving up was not who he was.

 

He is survived by many friends and family who will never forget him or the love they shared. His wife, Sharon. His sisters, Julie Francis, Joyce Graviss, Pam Love. Numerous nieces and nephews: Melissa Woodward (Lance), Michelle Reed (Tim), Justin Roberts (Melanie), Jayme Roberts, Julie Roberts, Jody Willetts (Cara), Shannon Shumway (Rick), Krystle Loredo, Anthony Love, and many grand nephews and grand nieces. Sister-in-law Carol Sightler and her husband, Jim.

 

Then there are the friends who are family to us: Meredith Knight (Lila, our goddaughter, Dex), Rob and Laura Donoho (Elle, our other goddaughter), Rachal and Rich Wiski, Olivia Wiski-Tarancon and her husband Carlos Tarancon, Sophie Wiski. Kathy and Trey Beasley (Chet, Jake, and Bridget). Bob and Karen Rust (Miranda and Marissa).