Thursday morning at 9 a.m. the line of cars waiting for a cup of Brew Ha Ha coffee reaches nearly to Main Street.
Inside, Joyce Bashara works behind the counter. As the cappuccino machine whirs, she pours and mixes coffee, counts change and talks with customers about the cold and the morning’s mix of wind and snow.
It is business as usual, except for one thing. The place where Joyce’s husband and business partner, Michael Bashara, usually sat looking out on to the Main Street traffic, is empty. The counter above the chair is crowded with flower bouquets, each bearing a card with condolences.
Thursday marked a week since Michael’s passing. The 67-year-old passed away Feb. 2 after complications related to vascular dementia.
On Friday, Joyce will celebrate Michael’s life along with the community, friends and co-workers who knew him as a great dad, teacher, tireless volunteer and a local business partner with a personality that was larger than life.
Chance meeting
If not for a snowstorm, Joyce and Michael might never have met.
At the urging of her friends, Joyce put a singles advertisement in the South Bend Tribune. The same day that her ad ran, Michael got stuck while driving in a snowstorm. Rather than fight the winter weather, Michael sat back and opened up his copy of the Tribune, where he saw Joyce’s ad. He contacted her, but was subsequently rejected.
“I did not think he was my type,” Joyce said.
But true to his character, Michael’s persistence paid off.
“I think he wore me down,” Joyce joked. “I am glad he did.”
The couple married July 3, 1992, sharing almost 25 years of marriage. The couple raised their family in Buchanan.
A love for education
Michael had a lifelong passion for debate, which helped to earn him a four-year debate scholarship to attend the University of North Dakota, where he earned his bachelor’s degree. Michael continued his education at Western Michigan, where he earned his master’s degree.
For 35 years, Michael taught English and drama at Buchanan High School. Students who sat in his classroom could see the culmination of his passion for debate and theater, and it prompted an interesting classroom lecture.
Once, a student shared with Joyce how Michael gave a dramatic interpretation of the difference between a synonym and an antonym. Until his creative lectures, the student told Joyce she had been a D student.
“He loved kids and just wanted to see them be successful,” Joyce said.
In 35 years of teaching, Michael missed only two days of school, one for the day his dad died and one for a family emergency.
“That was just his everything,” she said. “He was very dedicated.”
Once during the mid-1980s, Michael fell while volunteering at a lock-in at the YMCA on a Saturday. By Monday he was back in school teaching.
Michael’s dedication was also seen in his coaching and directing.
Under his direction, the Buchanan theater department was the first in the country to perform “Into the Woods.” As a coach to the cheerleading team, he helped the cheerleaders to win competitions at regional, state and national levels.
Michael was also the voice of the Bucks during basketball and football games and he worked as a sports columnist, covering Buchanan’s sports for the Niles Daily Star.
Despite wearing many hats, Michael made time to spend with Joyce and their daughter, Alexis.
Brewing a future
Since buying the coffee shop in 2013, he was also a reliable business owner.
On Sundays, Joyce and Michael would have a date day. They would go to church at Trinity Episcopal and then get lunch, go to movie and run errands.
Joyce remembers the Sunday they stumbled upon Brew Ha Ha. The couple had decided to buy their groceries from Martin’s on 11th Street that week, when they went past the coffee shop a banner caught their eye.
The sign said: “For sale, Joyce wants to retire.”
Joyce was also the name to the former owner to Brew Ha Ha.
Neither Joyce nor Michael liked coffee, so they joked that day about purchasing the store at 920 Broadway St.
“I did not mean to buy a coffee shop,” Joyce said.
But looking back on that fateful day in 2013, Joyce said she is glad they did.
Joyce and Michael quickly took up their roles in the business. Joyce handled the coffee and business plans, while Michael worked behind the scenes buying supplies, stocking shelves and taking the time to interact with customers.
An avid reader, Michael was never without a book and always felt a calling to explore the wilderness of northern Minnesota. The family would visit the region a couple of times a year to relax in Michael’s cabin. Oftentimes, Michael would disappear for hours exploring the place he referred to as “God’s Country” in his canoe canoeing in what he referred to as “God’s Country.”
In June 2015, Michael was diagnosed with vascular dementia.
He lost the ability to speak at the end of the illness, a cruel slight to an English teacher, Joyce said. Michael required full-time care, which Joyce said would not have been possible if she did not run her own business.
Still, his presence in the coffee shop continued. When he could no longer help Joyce he took up a spot at the coffee shop window, where he would watch the traffic or doze.
As friends and family gather together Friday, they will celebrate Michael and his dedication that spanned the community, snacking on his favorite foods, including skittles, shrimp cocktail,
Joyce said that a local artist has proposed putting up a canoe replica that will sit in Michael’s corner in the café.
“It will not be quite the same,” Joyce said.