Michael Lee Luxton, 47, of Ventura, California, passed away at his home in Ventura of natural causes on Thursday, July 25, 2019.  Graveside services will be held Monday, August 5, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Frankfort.  Pastor Tammy Toepke-Floyd will officiate.  Arrangements have been entrusted to Hyke Funeral Home of Redfield, SD (www.hykefuneralhome.com).

Michael is the son of Larry Luxton (formerly of Frankfort, SD) and Naddlie Luxton (Pullman, formerly of Hitchcock, SD).   Michael was born in Ridgecrest, CA on January 20, 1972.

Michael completed his secondary education in Ridgecrest.  He attended Cerro Coso Community College in Ridgecrest for two years. He then transferred to California State University in Fresno, CA graduating in 1994 with a bachelor's degree (and later a master's degree from California State University, Northridge) in Finance and Taxation.  Upon graduation, he accepted a position with Carpenter, Kuhn & Sprayberry Accountancy Corporation in Bakersfield, CA.  Shortly after joining the corporation in Bakersfield, Michael transferred to their office in Oxnard, CA.  Michael developed a portfolio of primarily small businesses in the Oxnard/Ventura area resulting in his leaving Carpenter, Kuhn & Sprayberry for a job managing the finances of Callwave INC, a small communications software development company located in Santa Barbara, CA.  When Callwave INC decided to move their headquarters from Santa Barbara to San Francisco, CA, Michael turned down their offer to move to San Francisco.  Michael then accepted a position as Assistant Controller for QAD (a public company) at their headquarters located in Santa Barbara. QAD is a leading provider of enterprise resource planning software applications for global manufacturing companies.  Michael thoroughly enjoyed his job at QAD; in particular, his coworkers and the challenges associated with business in several worldwide countries.