Mike Joseph Pacatte

Michael Joseph Pacatte, known to all as Mike, died on March 3, 2026, in Mansfield, Texas, at the age of 77. Born on October 27, 1948, in Alton, Illinois, he grew up in South Roxana, Wood River, Springfield, and Jacksonville. He attended St. Bernard’s School, Marquette High School, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he earned a B.S. in Accounting. Mike made his home in the Fort Worth and Arlington, Texas area from 1974 onward.

For more than thirty years, Mike served in the U.S. Government, working primarily as an auditor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and later as a criminal investigator for the U.S. Department of Transportation until his retirement in 2004. His work took him across countless Texas backroads, where he developed an encyclopedic knowledge of small-town cattle auctions, ranchers, and local characters. A self-taught master of geography long before GPS, he could recite routes between obscure towns with ease. He remained a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan while embracing the Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys. Mike had a lifelong passion for cars and trucks, maintaining a detailed record of more than thirty vehicles he owned, traded, and modified. He was a devoted father who attended every practice and game during his sons Justin and Kyle’s football years, helped them with their cars, and spent many weekends working alongside them on landscaping and tree projects. To his grandchildren, he was lovingly known as Papaw.

Mike is survived by his sons, Justin (Traci) Pacatte of Arlington, Texas, and Kyle (Kelly) Pacatte of Dallas, Texas; his siblings, Tom (Kim) Pacatte of Webster Groves, Missouri, Dan (Leeanne) Pacatte of Bastrop, Texas, and Laura (Ron) Pollilo of O’Fallon, Illinois; grandchildren Ty and Kaitlin Pacatte of Arlington, and Wyatt, Charlotte, and Shelby Pacatte of Dallas; and many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, grand-nephews, and cousins from the Pacatte, Aherin, Henry, Jerden, Loyette, and Towle families across the country.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Merle and Mary Pacatte of Wood River, Illinois; his infant sister Mary and infant brother Timothy; his former wife, Janet Bean Pacatte of Fort Worth, Texas; his nephew Eric Jines of O’Fallon, Illinois; his grandson Dalton Taylor of Arlington, Texas; and many beloved aunts, uncles, and cousins.