02/07/2008 03:17. DAVISON, Michigan -- Robert Michael of Davison represented the connection between Buick and golf, and between the past and the present, perhaps better than anyone.

Michael caddied for U.S. Open champion Dick Mayer in the first Buick Open in 1958 and, in recent years, loved watching Tiger Woods. He died last Tuesday, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Buick, at age 79.

Though a fair golfer in his own right, Michael really loved just being around the game.

"In his hay-day, he was pretty decent," Phil Michael said of his father. "But when he was older he was too busy working to play much."

That work included 46 years at Buick, where he started as a truck driver at age 17 and retired as general supervisor in 1992. Michael was born to poor farming parents in Tennessee and never... // The Flint Journal - MLive.com