Joseph Michael Jordan, 66 of North Charleston, SC, passed away at home peacefully, surrounded by his family, on Wednesday, September 27, 2023.

Born on November 15, 1956, in Conway, SC, he was a son of Betty Foxworth Jordan and the late Hoyt L. Jordan.

Michael grew up in Conway, SC. While attending Conway High School he met his wife, Kathy. They have been together ever since. After high school, he graduated from Clemson University where he majored in Financial Management. He loved one thing almost as much as his family and that was watching his Clemson Tigers. He graduated in 1979. After Clemson, he began work at People’s Saving and Loan in Conway, SC. In 1982 he began his nearly 26 year long career with PYA/Monarch/US Foods. That job brought him to Mount Pleasant, SC in 1989, Lexington, SC in 1993, and Edgewater, MD in 2003. After moving to North Charleston, SC in 2006, he “retired” in 2012 to become a stay-at-home husband where he took care of his beautiful yard and pool. In 2017 he became best known as “Poppi” with the birth of his first grandchild, Maverick, and then again in 2022 with the birth of Piper.

Michael is preceded in death by his father, Hoyt L. Jordan.

Michael is survived by his loving wife of 43 years, Kathy Squires Jordan; children, Jason Jordan (Elise) and Joanna “Jonathan” Jordan; grandchildren, Maverick Grey and Piper McClellen; his mother, Betty Foxworth Jordan; brothers, Kevin L. Jordan (Candace) and Greg Jordan (Cindy); sister-in-law, Cheryl Harrell; brother-in-law, James Squires (Betty); and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

A memorial service will be held at 10 AM on Thursday, October 5th at St Andrew’s Park Circle, 4602 Durant Avenue, North Charleston, SC 29405.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or St. Andrew’s Park Circle Church, 4602 Durant Avenue, North Charleston, SC 29405.

Expressions of sympathy may be viewed or submitted online at www.mcalister-smith.com.

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to McAlister-Smith Funeral Home, 2501 Bees Ferry Road, Charleston, SC 29414, (843) 722-8371.

After being sent home on Saturday, Dad returned to the hospital on Sunday night with another high fever and vomiting. The doctors are still stumped by what’s going on with his kidneys, but are pretty sure this latest episode is the result of a UTI. He is still in good spirits and loves showing off to the nurses. We don’t think he’ll be allowed to go home until they are absolutely sure he won’t be returning. Thank you to everyone who has reached out with your support already 💖 Joanna

On Tuesday, Michael woke up with a fever of 102 degrees. After a trip to the ER and some bloodwork they determined that he was in severe kidney failure and would need to be admitted to the hospital. He is still in the hospital but is feeling much better and his kidneys appear to be improving. The doctors are still not 100% sure what prompted this but are encouraged by how he is doing. We are hopeful he’ll be able to go home on Sunday. 💖 Joanna

Hi Everyone,

We just wanted to give everyone the awesome news we received today! Michael is in remission! Well, as close as he will be ever be according to his doctor.

What does this mean? This means chemo by pill form, every other week for 7 days. So no more bi-monthly hospital visits for infusion. He will still receive immunotherapy every 28 days by infusion. Hey, we’ll take that any day. We are beyond happy and blessed!

Thank you all for the prayers, thoughts, texts, and calls. Keep them coming. We are planning a few trips that we’ve wanted to take, so keep us in your prayers. Thank you, everyone.

❤️❤️❤️ Kathy

Michael had a great report this week! No chemo for 3 weeks. He will have an MRI Monday just to check his “Brain Fog”. He’s going to get a PET CT on the 15th to take a look and see how things are looking in there. He also gained another pound! We are so grateful and pleased with this news. God is so Good! Keep those prayers, well wishes and thoughts coming. 💖 Kathy

We got some great news today. On Monday, Mike had a CT scan done and it was determined that his cancer is in partial remission! He’s obviously not out of the woods but the doctors are very happy with how things are going. We also don’t know how long this remission will last, it could be anywhere from weeks to months. He is going to have 3 or 4 more chemo treatments before they do a PET scan. After that they will reevaluate his treatment plan. He still has bad days but overall is feeling quite good. He even felt well enough to go to a restaurant to eat today! As always, thank you for all of your positive thoughts and messages 💖

Not much to report since the last update. Mike had his third chemo treatment. They are now becoming routine. He feels pretty good the first two days then not so great for about a day. Overall, he is doing really well. He even mowed the grass on the same day he got chemo. Joanna helped bag the grass clippings the first time and then about a week later Kathy helped. He’s probably over doing it a bit but don’t tell him that :-)

Here are some photos from Maverick’s 6th birthday and his “bridging up” from kindergarten to first grade!

Mike had a slight setback this week. On Sunday, he got up to go into another room and after taking a few steps he fainted. Jason and Elise came right over and called 911. He was reluctant to go the hospital but everyone agreed that was the best decision. Once he got to the ER the panic wore off and he felt fine. After 8 hours and several tests he was sent home and told to be more careful when standing up in the future.

On Wednesday he was scheduled to get his third round of chemo, but after his bloodwork the doctor told us that he wasn’t going to get treatment this week due to a low white blood count. They said he would get a break and continue next week. He was a bit bummed but understood that it was for the best. On a positive note, he has felt really good the past few days and has been able to eat much more than he used to. He still doesn’t love eating, but we are finding things that he can at least tolerate.

💖 Joanna

PS here’s a photo of him from around 1998 that our good friend Meghan recently reminded us of.

Michael’s first Chemo treatment today went very well. 4 hours. We will go back every 2 weeks on Wednesday’s. We’re home. He’s resting and watching the Cubs. A little tired, occasional nausea, little appetite, but overall seems to be okay. Keep those prayers and positive thoughts coming! We appreciate you so much! 💕 Kathy