Obituary for Michael Metzger
Michael “Mike” Metzger, 74, of Bloomington died May 31, 2020 at the Stonecroft Health Campus after a long and stoic fight with Multiple System Atrophy. He was born October 4, 1945 in Jeffersonville, Indiana to Jesse G. and Norma R. (Bengel) Metzger. He spent his earliest years in Bloomington while his father attended Indiana University on the GI bill, living in an army surplus trailer in Woodlawn field on the IU campus along with other returning GI’s and their families. As a teenager his family moved to Indianapolis where he graduated from Warren Central High School in 1962. In high school he was an avid and accomplished musician, playing the clarinet and saxophone, winning a first in the state in clarinet. Mike returned to Bloomington to attend IU and received an A.B. in 1966 and a J.D. from the IU School of Law in 1969. He met his soul mate, Virginia Kleinhans, on a blind date in his second year of law school. He proposed two years later, saying “I guess if I married anyone it would be you.”, and they married on November 27th, 1969 in Silver Lake Village, Ohio. This past November they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
After graduating from IU they moved to Indianapolis where Mike began his legal career in a succession of positions as a deputy securities commissioner, a legal services attorney, a senior legislative analyst, and a criminal defense attorney before discovering his true calling, teaching and research. He joined the IU faculty in Bloomington as a visiting lecturer in 1972 from Nashville IN where they now lived in a log cabin. In 1976 Mike accepted a tenure-track position as assistant professor of Business Law in the School of Business and they moved to Bloomington. Mike excelled and was promoted through the ranks to associate professor in 1979, professor in 1985, and then to three chaired professorships in Business Law, Business Administration, and Business Ethics. He published over 50 articles in a variety of law, business, and ethics journals, receiving four best article of the year awards from the American Business Law Journal. He was appointed chair of the Business Law department as an associate professor, and then in 1984 he was appointed associate dean for academics for the School of Business, and was called back twice to that position. In 1990 he became the point person to integrate business ethics into the business curriculum. Mike was an unforgettable teacher. In class, he shared his broad wisdom from many disciplines as well as his trademark sense of humor (often turned on himself), to challenge his students to examine their own thinking. Over the course of his career, he taught tens of thousands of students in settings ranging from 300-student undergraduate classrooms to corporate conference rooms. He won 20 teaching awards and was identified by Business Week as “one of the B-School’s top teachers” in 1995, and one of its “Outstanding Faculty” in 1993 and 1997. A YouTube video of his final M.B.A. class shows students giving him a rowdy standing ovation that lasts several minutes, a fitting tribute to a beloved professor who taught them new ways of thinking and helped to shape them as business professionals.
Mike loved fast motorcycles, fast cars, and fast sailboats. Mike and Virginia sailed catamarans and Mike proclaimed Virg, his nickname for her, a “lousy captain and an uppity crew.” He was a huge fan of Formula One racing, especially the Ferrari team. One of his biggest thrills was visiting the Fiorano Circuit, the Ferrari test track in Fiorano Modenese, Italy , with no less than the great Michael Schumacher, his favorite driver, screaming around the track. A second racing dream come true was a trip to the Monaco Grand Prix. As Mike said, you could smell the money. One of his favorite family outings was the Metzger “boys” annual road trip to Road America at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, to watch vintage car races and eat double brat sandwiches with his brothers and nephews. After a bad motorcycle accident wrecked his knee Mike became an enthusiastic bicyclist and he and Virginia enjoyed 25 wonderful and challenging summer bike trips abroad, Italy of course being his favorite. Mike was also a voracious reader, but an unenthusiastic bridge player. He was a life-long weight lifter, one of the HPER noon-time regulars. As an undergraduate he came in second in the Mr. IU body building contest, and he always blamed his skinny calves for coming in second. Mike was a connoisseur of fine wines, but only reds, and fine Italian clothes. Once asked how many Italian suits he had, he replied, “Who’s counting?” Mike dearly loved all of his westie “pups”: Kiltie, Mackie, Lucy, Desi, Niki, and Buddy Boy AKA Mr. Barky.
Mike is preceded in death by his father, Jesse, his mother, Norma, and his brother-in-law Larry Prickett. He is survived by his beloved wife Virginia (Kleinhans), his brother Bill and his sister-in-law Caroline (Kaiser), his sister Debby Prickett, his brother Doug and his sister-in-law Trinda (Fennelly), and numerous nieces and nephews. He will also be missed by his brother-in-law Fritz Kleinhans, his sister-in-law Alice Kleinhans and her spouse Ron Eskin. The family would like to thank the Stonecroft staff for their loving and compassionate care of Mike in the last months of his life, and his Home Instead caregivers who helped him over the course of his decline. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may go to the Monroe County Humane Association. The Funeral Chapel has been entrusted with the arrangements. There will be a private family service on June 7th and a larger gathering at a later date to celebrate Mike’s life.
After graduating from IU they moved to Indianapolis where Mike began his legal career in a succession of positions as a deputy securities commissioner, a legal services attorney, a senior legislative analyst, and a criminal defense attorney before discovering his true calling, teaching and research. He joined the IU faculty in Bloomington as a visiting lecturer in 1972 from Nashville IN where they now lived in a log cabin. In 1976 Mike accepted a tenure-track position as assistant professor of Business Law in the School of Business and they moved to Bloomington. Mike excelled and was promoted through the ranks to associate professor in 1979, professor in 1985, and then to three chaired professorships in Business Law, Business Administration, and Business Ethics. He published over 50 articles in a variety of law, business, and ethics journals, receiving four best article of the year awards from the American Business Law Journal. He was appointed chair of the Business Law department as an associate professor, and then in 1984 he was appointed associate dean for academics for the School of Business, and was called back twice to that position. In 1990 he became the point person to integrate business ethics into the business curriculum. Mike was an unforgettable teacher. In class, he shared his broad wisdom from many disciplines as well as his trademark sense of humor (often turned on himself), to challenge his students to examine their own thinking. Over the course of his career, he taught tens of thousands of students in settings ranging from 300-student undergraduate classrooms to corporate conference rooms. He won 20 teaching awards and was identified by Business Week as “one of the B-School’s top teachers” in 1995, and one of its “Outstanding Faculty” in 1993 and 1997. A YouTube video of his final M.B.A. class shows students giving him a rowdy standing ovation that lasts several minutes, a fitting tribute to a beloved professor who taught them new ways of thinking and helped to shape them as business professionals.
Mike loved fast motorcycles, fast cars, and fast sailboats. Mike and Virginia sailed catamarans and Mike proclaimed Virg, his nickname for her, a “lousy captain and an uppity crew.” He was a huge fan of Formula One racing, especially the Ferrari team. One of his biggest thrills was visiting the Fiorano Circuit, the Ferrari test track in Fiorano Modenese, Italy , with no less than the great Michael Schumacher, his favorite driver, screaming around the track. A second racing dream come true was a trip to the Monaco Grand Prix. As Mike said, you could smell the money. One of his favorite family outings was the Metzger “boys” annual road trip to Road America at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, to watch vintage car races and eat double brat sandwiches with his brothers and nephews. After a bad motorcycle accident wrecked his knee Mike became an enthusiastic bicyclist and he and Virginia enjoyed 25 wonderful and challenging summer bike trips abroad, Italy of course being his favorite. Mike was also a voracious reader, but an unenthusiastic bridge player. He was a life-long weight lifter, one of the HPER noon-time regulars. As an undergraduate he came in second in the Mr. IU body building contest, and he always blamed his skinny calves for coming in second. Mike was a connoisseur of fine wines, but only reds, and fine Italian clothes. Once asked how many Italian suits he had, he replied, “Who’s counting?” Mike dearly loved all of his westie “pups”: Kiltie, Mackie, Lucy, Desi, Niki, and Buddy Boy AKA Mr. Barky.
Mike is preceded in death by his father, Jesse, his mother, Norma, and his brother-in-law Larry Prickett. He is survived by his beloved wife Virginia (Kleinhans), his brother Bill and his sister-in-law Caroline (Kaiser), his sister Debby Prickett, his brother Doug and his sister-in-law Trinda (Fennelly), and numerous nieces and nephews. He will also be missed by his brother-in-law Fritz Kleinhans, his sister-in-law Alice Kleinhans and her spouse Ron Eskin. The family would like to thank the Stonecroft staff for their loving and compassionate care of Mike in the last months of his life, and his Home Instead caregivers who helped him over the course of his decline. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may go to the Monroe County Humane Association. The Funeral Chapel has been entrusted with the arrangements. There will be a private family service on June 7th and a larger gathering at a later date to celebrate Mike’s life.