Douglas J. Heuker, AARE, GPPA
2015 MAA Hall of Fame Inductee

Doug Heuker first catches your attention with his infectious smile, and soon in conversation this is followed with an easily identifiable deep and hearty laugh. It is for that reason alone this gentleman is one that people want to be around, and one of the traits that has led to his great success. He is a sincere Christian, and you can see evidence of that throughout his walk in life. He has been active in his church for years, and leads a men’s Bible Study. His work ethic and principles further reveal his sincere heart and desire to treat others as he wishes to be treated.

Born in 1969, Doug is the oldest of 4 siblings. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Account and married his lovely wife, Erin, at the tender age of 22. They have 3 children, Melanie, Benjamin & Nickolas, who love and admire their father. Doug is a sportsman who loves to hunt, fish, and travel with his family.

Doug worked for a private company as an accountant for a while after graduation from college before deciding that wasn’t for him. He grew up going to cattle auctions with his grandpa – and that auction call always rang in his ears. He raises beef cattle today just like his Grandpa did. So he went to Missouri Auction School and for a little while worked with his dad in the heating/cooling business while trying to get started in auctioneering. It was easy to see this was one cool cat and that he had true talent in bid calling.

Doug joined Miedema Auctioneering in 1996. Made great friends there, including the late Hib Kuiper… he has had many an adventure working at auctions together with Sid & Scott Miedema and their entire crew. Doug is truly a leader in the auction industry, he serves as President of LASTBIDrealestate.com, and sells hundreds of properties annually using the latest cutting edge auction tools. He has given presentations, assisted many auctioneers as a mentor, served several years as a board member, and in 2008 served as the MAA President. He is also the 2002 Michigan Auctioneer Champion, the 2010 Michigan Ringman Champion, a multiple finalist in the International Auctioneer Championship, and now an MAA Hall of Fame Member.

It is with sad news that we share that Doug passed away the day after he was inducted into the Michigan Hall of Fame. He will be greatly missed by the industry, his business partners, family and friends.

Michael W. Furlo, CAI, CAGA
2015 MAA Hall of Fame Inductee

On Tuesday, March 13, 1956, a little boy named Mike was born. His mom taught him to talk, and he hasn’t stopped since! He had a colorful upbringing, spending much of his time at the Schuk Hotel and The Town House restaurant, owned by his parents.

In 1976, Mike married the love his life, Jean Helm. Together they had a daughter, Trudy, and two sons, Bill and Tony. With their children and their daughter in law Trina, Their legacy continues, with grandchildren, Logan, Drake, Dillon, Emily, Corbin, Will, and Gracie.

Mike had several independent businesses. He had his own well drilling business, then went on to custom combining. When satellite dishes became popular, Mike was on the front line in sales and promotion. Memories by Mike was his photography shop in Merrill. After the large satellite fell out of favor, he spent a year in Japan teaching conversational English. This led to several years working with Northword University ESL, recruiting and sponsoring numerous Japanese college students.

All these life experiences had Mike perfectly positioned for his life long career – auctioneering. He came into the field because of a random comment made by Leonard Breasbois. In 1986, while visiting with Mike, Leonard simply said: “You know, Mike, you’d make a good auctioneer!” And so it began. Mike did some investigating, he enrolled in the Reppert Auction School, graduating in May of 1986. He did several benefit auctions for experience. His first paying auction was a small farm sale, held in a field with folding tables and hand written clerking sheets.

Nowadays, Mike’s auctions are state of the art, with computerized clerking, wireless credit card processing, video and audio recordings and professional marketing. Noticing that big sales can make for long walks to the sales, Mike personally purchased two shuttle vehicles, to make it easier to get to the auction site. His biggest auction by far was a property sale. Appraised by real estate professionals at $400,000, the final bid was just $2,000 shy of one million dollars. Needless to say, the sellers were extremely happy!

Mike does a lot of property auctions, as well as estate. He’s very sought after for restaurant/business auctions, as he knows the equipment and their uses, and can speak the buyer’s language. Mike also has a good appraisal business. Many individuals, professionals, banks, and credit unions use Furlo Auction Service as their source for appraisals.

Mike still loves to do benefit auctions. Some of his favorites are the Big Brother, Big Sisters, National Wild Turkey Federation, Steelheaders, St. Judes, St. Brigids Catholic Schools, and many others.

When not auctioneering, Mike has a passion for horses. Mike and Jean love to trail ride, going on rides throughout Michigan as well as out of state. Mike also loves to ride his horses “Sorting and penning”. The first time Mike rode his horse Hal sorting, they trotted away with 1st place! If you happened through Freeland and saw a horse and buggy going through the drive thru at Burger King, it was probably Mike.

Mike loves the auction business. He continually is looking to improve himself and his business. He’s a member of the Michigan Auctioneer’ Association, CAGA, CAI, and NAA. A past president of the MAA (2005), he continues to support and enjoy the meetings and conventions. Mike has brought his family well into the auction business. His daughter Trudy and son Tony can both be found regularly calling bid at Furlo auctions. His son Bill has called auction as well. His daughter-in-law Trina can be found behind the clerk station, and his sister Kathy works the pay window. Jean is everywhere, clerking, setting up the auction, running the window, settling up with sellers, and making sure everything runs smooth.

Much like Will Rogers, Mike has never met a man he didn’t like. He can walk into a crowded room full of a hundred strangers, and walk out with a hundred friends. He goes the extra distance to make people comfortable and happy. Mike works hard for his sellers, but strives to make his buyers happy with their purchases, too. On two separate occasions, he searched out and contacted people who had lost their class rings that had been found in storage locker auctions. He doesn’t do it for a reward – which he refused in both cases – but because that’s the type of person Mike is.

Mike Furlo is many things – a great husband, a good dad and grandpa, a terrific friend, and an outstanding auctioneer. He’s even an ordained minister, and has performed several weddings He has a huge love of life. He likes to have fun, and likes others to have fun at the same time. Congratulations on an honor well deserved!