Michael David Tate of Leesburg, Virginia, beloved husband of Margo Walcavich Tate (who predeceased him earlier this year on April 6) passed away in his home on June 15. He was 84.

Mike was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on February 13, 1940 to Ferdinand J. Tate and Elizabeth Ladd Tate. His father was a career Army officer which meant that Mike and his four siblings had the opportunity to grow up in many different places including Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kansas and Japan.

He graduated from George Washington High School in Alexandria, Virginia in 1956 at age 16 (while in high school, he met the love of his life, Margo, at a mutual friend's party). Mike wanted to stay in the DC area for college, but his father was being transferred to Panama and required that Mike stay close to relatives in Louisiana, so he enrolled in Louisiana State University. Once he turned 18, however, Mike was able to move where he pleased, and he transferred to the University of Maryland to be closer to Margo and finish his degree. He graduated from the University of Maryland in 1960 where he majored in Government and Politics.

In his youth, Mike worked for the University of Maryland radio station, where he posed the first question to Fidel Castro during the Cuban leader's 1959 visit to campus. Mike also negotiated to ask the first question of presidential candidate John F. Kennedy when he visited the Maryland campus. Mike went on to develop strong opinions of political candidates, and he measured his choices carefully as he exercised his right to vote.
Mike and Margo married on a snowy February 4, 1961 in Arlington, Virginia. The blizzard that day prevented some of their friends and family from attending the blessed event, but Mike and Margo were undeterred.

Mike considered law school and had his choice of law schools in the DC area. Mike studied law for a short time at George Washington University Law School but he was working full time and helping Margo raise their young family, so he withdrew from law school with the hope of picking it up later in life. In his late twenties, he spent one year at Massachusetts Institute of Technology studying economics.

Mike and Margo raised their children in Shirlington, South Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia; and in Boston. Mike's love of solitude and privacy led them eventually to Middleburg, Virginia in 1976, and he remained in Loudoun County until his death.

Mike worked in the Nixon administration for the Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention early in his career, and he then moved on to management consulting, working for two consulting companies, Arthur D. Little and Temple Barker and Sloan, until he opened his own consulting firm in 1990 — Tate-Francesca. Mike developed his niche in management consulting working with trade associations, including the American Beverage Association and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. He also worked with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mike loved his life — all of it — his dogs, reading the Washington Post from front to back every morning with coffee, arduously completing the Sunday crossword puzzles with Margo, and watching Washington Commanders football (for which he always wore a lucky outfit on game day — a red striped oxford, light blue jeans and, inexplicably, cowboy boots). He loved time with his grandkids — walking with them through the woods to visit the creek, putting golf balls in the front lawn, sledding occasionally with them during the rare Virginia snowstorms, and enlisting their assistance in dragging fallen branches to the ever-present burn pile.

Mike enjoyed nothing as much as spending time with Margo. They were rarely apart, and separated for only two and a half months (but the longest period of their 63-year marriage) before he joined her on June 15.

Mike is predeceased by his parents and his wife, Margo. He is survived by his sons, Michael (Bev), Chris (Kathy), Mark (Bonni), and his daughter, Julie (Doug). He was the proud grandfather of thirteen.

Funeral Service:

St. John the Apostle at 10:00
101 Oakcrest Manor Drive, Leesburg, VA 20176
Friday, June 28, 2024

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Parkinson's Foundation