Michael Paul Ledford, a resident of Dothan, Alabama, died Wednesday, June 18, 2025, at an Asheville, North Carolina hospital. He was 52.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at 3:00 PM in the chapel of Sorrells Funeral Home & Crematory with Reverend Lynn Nesbitt officiating. A graveside service will follow at Old Tabernacle Cemetery in New Brockton with Sorrells Funeral Home & Crematory directing. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Wednesday from 2:00 until 3:00 PM.
Michael was born in Enterprise, Alabama, and spent his early childhood in New Brockton, Alabama, where he began his lifelong love of football. He moved with his mom to Dothan in 1980 while she went to nursing school. He graduated from Ashford High School in 1990, the recipient of only two scholarships in electronics to Wallace College. He later went to Fortis College graduating from their HVAC-R program.
Michael moved to Montgomery in 2001 and began working at Eagle Signs as Operations Manager. He married Holly Voth on July 31, 2004. They were unable to have a child and divorced many years later. Michael never remarried. He returned to Dothan where he worked at Wayne Farms and Michelin.
Michael was incredibly smart, an amazing artist, and could do anything. He was a topnotch HVAC technician with every certification. He knew just how much manure to add to grow roses. He designed and built a beautiful cobblestone patio and retaining wall centered by a fountain. He was skilled at diesel mechanics, auto mechanics, welding, every facet of commercial sign business, carpentry, tile, plumbing and electric, appliance repair, pool equipment, and refrigeration. There was simply nothing he couldn’t do.
Michael loved animals and had a tender heart. Though he enjoyed guns and target practice, he could not kill for food. He liked fast cars (his souped up Cadillac CTSV), his Harley, and his boat. He liked to fish, to golf, and he had a passion for football, especially Alabama Crimson Tide and the Washington Redskins. He was an excellent cook.
In July of 2022, due to catastrophic consequences of a failed brain surgery resulting in a massive stroke, Michael suffered from aphasia, hemiparesis, and hemiplegia. His strong willpower, indomitable spirit, and stubborn, persistent resolve to get back on his Harley and to reclaim his life, pushed him to regain more than was deemed possible; he eventually was able to live independently with a huge amount of support. Then, watching television, being with his friends, visiting his dog, Jake (whom he called “son”), playing with our cats, cruising around in his power wheelchair, and his passion for jigsaw puzzles (he insists every one of them be glued), kept him occupied. On the coffee table of my home lies the puzzle he had worked on the morning of his death.
Michael’s death was unexpected from a probable aortic aneurysm. He died in the ER at Mission Hospital leaving behind many friends, coworkers, and family to mourn.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Tom and Clennie Clark Snellgrove, and Dee and Viola Ledford; and brother, Mark Ledford. He is survivied by his mother, Judy West and stepfather, Sam West of Dothan; his father, Paul Ledford; sister, April, of Rocky Mount, North Carolina; his grandmother, Faye Harper Lassiter; his uncle, Howard Snellgrove (Nioka); aunts, Audrey Sheppard (Eric), all of New Brockton; Mary Dunn (Scott) of Statesboro, Georgia; and step-uncle, Lewe West (Sandra) of Enterprise; and several nieces and nephews.
