Island Profile: A military kid connects to the Island
Michael McNemar is one of the go-to people for computer problems on Shelter Island. He’s also a waiter at Two Ed’s and active at the Presbytyerian Church.
Turning 40 this June, he is a newcomer to the Island, having arrived via marriage about a decade ago. His wife, Doreen, is a Tybaert with deep roots here. She’s been the receptionist at the town Medical Center for several years. They met through friends in Atlanta in 1991, when he was in the Marines and Doreen was attending Oglethorpe University.
“We were set up on a blind date,” he said, “and I was supposed to go out with her friend. But it didn’t work out that way. We ended up together and we’ve been together ever since, all of 20 years now.”
Like so many others, his first trip to the Island was a case of love at first sight. They lived in Atlanta at the time, where Doreen was a registrar at Herzing College. “It was Martin Luther King weekend, January 1992 and it was snowing, just a quick weekend trip,” he recalled. “As soon as we crossed the ferry, I looked around and said, ‘This is where I want to be.’ Doreen said, ‘I am not moving back to Shelter Island!’
“So it took a little nudging and kicking over the years,” he said. “But once our son got to a certain age, and we started looking at schools and thinking about how he was going to grow up and what kind of environment he was going to be in, that was what probably hooked her. It took me a lot of years to get her back here.”
They visited twice a year from Atlanta, in the winter and in the summer, -and Michael loved it.
“I love the small town feeling. I’ve lived in big places … medium sized places, but the feel of this place is just unique. My life is a lot less stressful, better now. I think we’re all much happier,” he said.
An only child, he “grew up all over the place. My father was in the Marine Corps so I was born in South Carolina, in a small town outside of Parris Island, the Marine Corps boot camp. We moved then to Ohio, upstate New York, California, back to Ohio, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Georgia again.” Having to go to 13 elementary schools and two high schools, he learned to make friends easily and to be independent as well.
Michael’s father served two tours in Vietnam and was part of the mission to rescue the American merchant ship, the Mayaguez, seized with her crew by the Cambodian Khmer Rouge forces in May 1975. President Gerald Ford sent in the Marines to rescue the crew. They succeeded, although 41 Marines and airmen died and 50 were wounded. “My dad’s first family was the Marine Corps. I will not lie about that,” Michael said. “He loved the Marine Corps and that’s where his heart was. He loved us very much but that’s where his heart was.”
Michael came home from school one day his senior year in high school, age 17, and found his father and a recruiter sitting on the couch in the living room.
“My dad took out two contracts and said, ‘Here’s one for active duty, here’s one for the reserve. You will sign one or the other today.’ I opted for the reserves.”
After graduation, he started to serve his contract. “I enjoyed boot camp. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life but I think it was one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life,” he said.
After the six months of initial training, a reservist serves a day each month plus two weeks out of the year for four years. “When my time was up, I just wanted to go on and do other things. I didn’t renew,” he said.
Once engaged to Doreen, he went to the Art Institute of Atlanta, earning a degree in 3-D modeling and animation. “I wanted to make video games and be involved in computer graphics,” he said. “But when I graduated, there wasn’t a market for that yet in Atlanta. It was big on the West Coast but I wasn’t getting ready to move” They married in 1999.
During those school years, Michael worked in a computer lab. “The director kind of took me under his wing and showed me a lot of stuff and I just sort of picked it up. I could see how it worked and when I graduated and needed to find something else to do, I ended up getting my certification with Microsoft as a systems engineer and worked many places, including Bell South and Hewlett Packard.”
After moving to Shelter Island, he found computer-related work in several places, both on the Island and on the South Fork and began his own part-time business, Shelter Island Computer Guy. When he was laid off from Sand Pebble Builders as a technician last July, he decided to try turning the business into a full time operation. “It’s working very well. I love being on my own,” he said. “It’s a little scary sometimes, especially after working 20-plus years for other folks. You’re not sure how you’re going to make it.”
“But there’s a need that I think I’m filling,” he said. “I try to guide people. I tutor, give lessons, solve problems and make repairs. I get to see my son more. I can be home when he gets home from school, be around when my wife gets home.” He supplements his income by waiting tables at Two Ed’s restaurant. “It’s a great way to meet clients and we have a lot of regulars,” he said. “I do more chatting with customers than really working. It’s fun, and I love the food there.”
His life seems to be taking yet another turn. “Right now, I’m working with Pastor Bill [Grimbol] to get into seminary school. I’ve had a really close relationship with him for 12 years now, and I just think that’s the direction I need to go in.”
c.galligan@sireporter.com