In Loving Memory of

Mike Fincher

Funeral Announcement
Mike Fincher, 52, of Pensacola, Fla., formerly of LaGrange, died Thursday, December 5 in Pensacola.

Mr. Fincher, born October 28, 1950 in LaGrange, was the son of Lucille Fincher and the late Tom L Fincher. He was a musician and a member of Unity Baptist Church in LaGrange.

Survivors, in addition to his mother, include a sister and brother-in-law, Brenda and Glenn Hearn of LaGrange; a brother and sister-in-law, Dr. Jerry and Brenda Fincher of Midland City, Ala.; four nieces and a spouse, Christy and Mike Wreyford of LaGrange, Aimee Fincher, Emily Fincher, and Lydia Fincher, all of Midland City; two nephews, Aaron Fincher and Seth Fincher, both of Midland City; and a special friend, Sonny Davis of Dallas, Texas.

Funeral services will be at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Hunter-Allen-Myhand Chapel with the Revs. Bobby Robinson and Carlton Moore officiating. Burial will be in Restlawn Memory Gardens.

The family will be at their home at 200 Hearthstone Drive and will receive friends at the funeral home Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m.

PUBLISHED MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2002 IN THE PENSACOLA NEWS JOURNAL

Flora-Bama musician Fincher dead at 52

Sean Smith
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com

Larry Strickland found it hard to take the stage at the Flora- Bama Lounge on Saturday and Sunday.

The death Thursday of singer and musician Mike Fincher, 52, of Innerarity Point stunned the close-knit bands that play every weekend at the lounge. Hundreds of calls poured in throughout the weekend.

About 40 people piled onto a bus chartered Sunday by the Flora-Bama to take them to Mr. Fincher's funeral in his home town of LaGrange, Ga., where he and singing partner Rusty McHugh played together in a band in high school. The Flora- Bama is scheduled to conduct a memorial service for Mr. Fincher at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Mr. Fincher died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Thursday when visiting a friend in Lillian, Ala., said Huey Mack, coroner for Baldwin County. His death was ruled a suicide.

Saturday, Strickland had to entertain with Jezebel's Chillin'. The band played its laid-back Southern sound for the afternoon crowd at the state-line honky tonk. Customers swirled their drinks in plastic glasses and tapped their feet, but he knew something was missing.

Laughter.

"It's so hard, you know? I can't count how many times I've cried in the past few days. Everybody is flipped about this, but we somehow have to push on," said Strickland, his voice breaking. "Mike would have wanted it that way. He has become such a fixture out here. People come here every year and plan their vacations. They come here looking for them."

For more than 10 years locals and sun-scorched tourists crammed into the dark lounge to hear Rusty McHugh and Mr. Fincher launch an onslaught of quick-hitting, foot-stomping ditties about life on the Gulf Coast.

They sang about meeting women at the Waffle House, free- wheeling tequila and about the ease of getting refunds at Wal-Mart. And they drew blushes with their observations in, "My Baby is a Seafood Platter," and "I Always Get Battered When She Gets Fried," and a score of other tunes scattered on six CDs that are among the best sellers at the 'Bama.

But Mr. Fincher, wild-eyed with a ZZ-Top beard, always played with a disarming smile.

"You took that for granted. You knew you would see him smiling," said Mike Beaver, a longtime Flora-Bama employee who now designs its Web site. "Their personalities pulled the fun out for people. No matter what people's social status, Mike and Rusty kept people together and made them laugh. They'd go back to wherever they came from a little more relaxed."

Mr. Fincher had played with several bands before reuniting with McHugh in 1989.

"He was an all-around great musician. He could just sit in and play with anybody. He was good at what he did," said Dennis Arsenault, who has worked at the Flora-Bama for 17 years. "But Mike and Rusty - they were great together. They really just kind of clicked together."

While sales of their CDs soared, the duo branched out and played to packed houses in The Bitter End in New York's Greenwich Village last winter. They had just played a series of shows in Montgomery, Ala., including a screening of "Mullet Men," a comedic documentary about a New Yorker's quest to throw and win at The Interstate Mullet Toss.

Kathy Justice, who with her husband, Dusty, has taken up a corner of the bar at the Flora- Bama, "just about every Saturday" for 12 years, was at work Friday when Dusty called with the news. She was stunned.

"Mike was up on top of the world in the past few weeks. It was the happiest I've ever seen him," Kathy Justice said. "It seemed like everything was falling into place."

Strickland managed a smile as he played a second set Saturday night, then played again Sunday despite his wishes to ride the bus to LaGrange.

"He was a sweet, gentle soul and will be truly missed by everyone here," Strickland said. "All's I can say is, 'We'll see you on the other side, brother. We'll see you on the other side."'

Mr. Fincher is survived by his mother, Lucile Fincher; a sister, Brenda Hearn of LaGrange; and a brother, Dr. Jerry Fincher.