Obituaries

Michael Kent Pilgrim passed away on Friday, September 26th in Norfolk, Virginia at the age of 77. Mike believed he was fortunate to have lived a very good life having enjoyed the love of family, several exceptional women, many wonderful friends and a number of faithful dogs. The youngest child of Ollaster and Anna Pilgrim, he grew up in York County, Virginia. Mike thought himself blessed to have parents who cared and sacrificed for him, and siblings who, though often far apart, were always there for him.

Graduating from the College of William and Mary in 1972, Mike began a lifelong career working in the fields of security and intelligence. For more than thirty-five years, Mike worked on security projects for federal agencies, including the National Park Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Defense, local municipalities and a number of foreign governments. From Washington, D.C. to Kuala Lampur, there were few major airports he was not intimately familiar with having been directly involved with their security.

Considered an expert in his chosen field, Mike served on several national standards organizations and committees for aviation security and border protection. He was a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, the American Society for Industrial Security and the American Association of Airport Executives. Mike wrote hundreds of reports and studies, some classified, was often an expert witness during litigations and was portrayed or listed as a source in more than a dozen books. While his work made him an author, landed him an audience with King of Jordan, and helped secure the Washington Monument, Mike was particularly proud of his work in Afghanistan with the Afghani Presidential Protection Academy under the U.S. State Department. As proud as he was of his work in Afghanistan, Mike was equally proud to have marched against other wars during his lifetime.

Over the course of his life, Mike lived in ten states, as well as the District of Columbia, eleven countries and visited more than sixty-seven others. If you pressed him on which countries beyond the sixty-seven he had been to, eventually he would say “I was never there. You never saw me,” with a wry smile. Mike’s love of travel led him to climb the pyramids of Egypt, Mexico, Guatemala and Costa Rica, walk the streets of Petra, wander through Machu Picchu, drive Australia’s Gold Coast, see Komodo Dragons in the Komodo National Park, dive in the Galapagos Islands and watch the Northern Lights.

An accomplished diver whose love of travel and sharks took him around the world to dive, Mike logged over five hundred dives from Hawaii to the Caribbean and from Greece to Fiji. He firmly believed Palau, Yap and the Dutch Saba islands were his favorites. Mike had a soft spot for the Pacific Ocean and, in accordance with his wishes, his remains will be scattered there.

Mike is survived by his three nieces and two nephews, who will miss the conversations had over a good meal.