City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Michael Thomas Ariosto
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Age 66.
Died 08/04/2024.
Mike was born July 20, 1958 in Flushing Queens, NY to Salvatore (Sal) and Irene Ariosto. He was the loving brother to four older sisters, Janet, Lynn, Kathy and Laura. Mike grew up on Long Island where he attended school and his passion for hockey began. He played hockey both in school and also with a late night hockey league.
Mike began his career as a Broadway Box Office Ticket Manager In NYC where he had the privilege to meet many of Broadway's finest. He also played in the Broadway Show Softball League where he again rubbed elbows with many a star, including Tony Danza and Marlo Thomas. He met Sharon Spencer in 1993 while helping friends as a bouncer at their new bar Brother Jimmy’s, and they married in 1994. They had two children: Alexandria (Alex) while living in NYC and Spencer after they moved to NC. They moved to Chapel Hill, NC in 1998 where Mike and Sharon opened Just Cutting Up, a fun shaped cutting board company. When they closed Just Cutting Up, Mike went to work for the ABC Stores both in Orange County and Chatham County. He retired from the ABC in 2022.
Mike spent many hours heavily involved with The Exchange Pool in Chapel Hill and sat on the board as the Maintenance Coordinator. Alex and Spencer swam on the swim team for The Exchange Pool where Mike became a long time head timer for the swim team while they were swimming and coaching. He spent many weekends grilling and hanging out with his great friends there. Mike would tell you that many of his dearest friendships were made at The Exchange Pool.
Mike loved his family and friends, Rangers hockey and a good Sunday Jets football game with chicken wings. He was often referred to as the life of the party anywhere he went and made friends effortlessly. During his battle with cancer, Mike celebrated his daughter's marriage to David Batson and proudly walked his daughter down the aisle. He became a Pop Pop in April when he welcomed his first grandson, James Michael Batson, to the family. Mike was so excited to see his son Spencer get a dream job in sports, he was so proud of both of his children and their many accomplishments.
Mike is survived by Sharon Spencer Ariosto (Todd Conner), his daughter: Alex Ariosto (David Batson), his son: Spencer Ariosto, his grandson: James Batson, and siblings: Janet (Tom) Morganthau, Lynn Ariosto, Kathy Warburton and Laura (Wayne) Thomson.
Mike was preceded in death by his parents Sal and Irene Ariosto.
A celebration of life will be held on August 24th at 4pm, at The American Legion Post 6, 3700 NC-54, Chapel Hill, NC 27516 in the Club Room.
The Celebration Service will begin at 4pm with a reception following.
We invite everyone to wear a Hawaiian shirt or themed outfit to celebrate the wonderful life of the party, Mike Ariosto.
Family Contact - Sharon Ariosto (919) 260-0433 Address - 121 Channing Lane, Chapel Hill, NC 27516
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.