INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. — The viewing and memorial service arrangements for Indian Trail Mayor Michael Alvarez were announced Thursday.
Alvarez, who served as mayor of Indian Trail since 2011, passed away earlier this week at the age of 52.
He is survived by his wife and three children.
Alvarez, who was in his third term as mayor, is remembered as a hard-working, always-available mayor who constantly battled for his constituents.
“He was always available. He took the job as mayor very seriously, and he understood that he always represented the people. He didn’t represent a party, he didn’t represent any special interest. If you said special interest, you would say that he took a special interest in people. That was the great thing about Alvarez — you knew he cared,” said council colleague Todd Barber.
Barber, the town’s mayor pro tempore, said Alvarez’s death was a blow to the entire community.
“The great thing about Alvarez was, when someone says, ‘People over politics,’ he meant it,” Barber explained.
Alvarez had a long battle with cancer, which he talked about — and often joked about — publicly.
In July, Spectrum News 1 spoke with Alvarez about his cancer fight and resolve in continuing to serve the public.
“Yeah, I can do the job with just one arm. Congress and Senate have been doing it with no brain forever,” Alvarez joked at the time. He had lost his right arm to angiosarcoma in 2020.
In texts to a Spectrum News 1 reporter last July, Alvarez said his cancer had gone into remission. However, around the Christmas holiday, Alvarez revealed the cancer had returned.
“The people remember him as a fighter, especially with his cancer. And even when he lost his arm, he never once complained about that. He would make jokes of it and everything. Mayor Alvarez was an inspiration,” Barber said Thursday.
Another councilman, Dennis Gay, said Alvarez leaves behind a long list of accomplishments. Those include Indian Trail’s new town hall, long-standing contract with the sheriff’s office for town law enforcement, efforts to help local veterans, support of several local charity efforts, the town’s parks and recreation and his near-perfect attendance at town events.
“He always was there for the people,” Gay said. “No matter what was going on, he was a 100 miles an hour, almost like the Energizer bunny.”
Alvarez’s reputation as a problem-solver was well known across town hall.
“The thing that I’d like to remember most about Mayor Alvarez was he was the mayor of the people. If there was a Facebook post or an email concerning a pothole or a town problem, I could bet on I would get a call from the mayor letting me know about it and wanting to have it fixed,” said town manager Michael McLaurin.
McLaurin recalled his phone often ringing with requests from the mayor to help folks around town.
“Almost daily, and he was very good about contacting me and I would contact the department head who would then follow up,” McLaurin said with a smile. “I told the mayor one time, I said, ‘Mayor, I think you know everybody in town and I think everybody in town knows you.’ He was known as Mayor Michael, or just Michael.”
But mostly, his now former colleagues remembered his work ethic, desire to help people and positive attitude.
“There were a lot of causes that he supported, some of them behind the scenes that you never knew, to help people, while he was battling his own health issues,” McLaurin said. “I’ve never heard him complain.”
The condolences came in county-wide Wednesday night and Thursday as the news spread. Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey shared his office’s condolences.
“Well, just remember that he was a very community-oriented mayor, that was at every event, participating, out front, leading the way,” Cathey said. “That’s what we need from mayors all across this country.”
The town announced Alvarez will lie in state at town hall.
There will be a visitation at First Baptist Church on Jan. 29 from 3 to 4 p.m. with a memorial service immediately after. Those events are open to the public.