PORT HURON, MI - Dr. Michael Roy Shier

Dr. Michael Shier, retired physician and co-founder of Orthopedic Associates of Port Huron, P.C. who saw thousands of patients over the years, has died at 74.

His daughter, Kristine Shier Edie, said he died Sunday night due to complications from an illness.

She will miss holding her father's hand, the sheer love he had for his family and said he had an impact on the community in so many ways.

The community has lost a remarkable surgeon and a wonderful friend, said Dave Devendorf, a golf friend and former attorney for Shier.

Leaving a legacy

Steve Heithoff, a fellow orthopedic surgeon and Shier's business partner for around 30 years, said Shier co-founded Orthopedic Associates of Port Huron, P.C. with Wilmont Kreis and David Ernst in 1983.

The three started the practice in a mobile trailer unit in the Port Huron Hospital parking lot, now McLaren Port Huron.

Over the next 37 years they grew the business to their current location on River Centre Drive, an over 35,000 square foot building with over 110 employees, he said

It is a remarkable, remarkable practice that these three guys initiated and built over the years, Devendorf said.

When it came to Shier's practice, it didn't matter what the procedure was, once he put his mind to it he could do it and he was a pioneer for arthroscopy in its early years, Heithoff said.

He touched "thousands" of patients' lives over the year. Shier Edie recalled one patient, a girl who was usually shy, who made her father a Froot Loops necklace. He made sure to wear it every time she had an appointment, Shier Edie said.

Even after he retired, Shier would still visit the office once in a while donning a ball cap and work boots, Heithoff said.

Because that was Mike Shier, he didn't really hold any airs, he said.

The 'serial hobbyist'

Shier was one of those people you almost envied or resented because they were just so great at everything they did, Heithoff said.

He was good at so many different things, Devendorf said, calling him a serial hobbyist.

His hobbies included photography, woodworking and sharp shooting. He played golf and hockey for decades and earned a private pilot certificate. He was intensely focused and extremely accomplished, Heithoff said.

He also had an incredible use of the English language which he could use effectively for humor that would endure anyone to him, Devendorf said.

Alex Shier, Michael Shier's grandson, said his grandfather would also play guitar for him and in the past year he had started writing poetry.

The two would meet up about once a week and his grandfather would bring these huge stacks of poetry he would read for hours.

He was a remarkable guy, Alex Shier said, and he plans to turn the poetry into a musical album.

He's inspired me further than I can see, he said.

Shier Edie said her father had three children, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He was adamant he didn't want a funeral, but she had told him that so many people wanted to appreciate his life.

So they are going to take his hobbies, the fruits of his labors, and have an art show instead.

Shier Edie will take photos he took, blow them up, frame them and hang them on walls. They will put out examples of his woodworking and even some artwork he made in grade school. Alex Shier and other family members will take some of the poems and put them to music, she said.

The celebration will be open to family and certain co-workers. Shier Edie was still working on a date, but was considering July 20, her father's birthday.

Contact Bryce Airgood at (810) 989-6202 or bairgood@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @bairgood123.

Bryce Airgood, Port Huron Times Herald Published 12:50 p.m. ET June 16, 2020 | Updated 1:29 p.m. ET June 16, 2020