The life story of Miķelis Pankoks, depicted in years, is as follows: He was born in a fisherman's family on May 1, 1894, in Jūrmalciems, Nīca parish, and spent his childhood and youth in the harsh seaside nature and at work; he received only an elementary school education. In 1919, he was сalled up for military service in the army of the Republic of Latvia, participated in the Latvian War of Independence, and acquired the specialty of army paramedic. After that, called by the duty of the only son, he returned to his parents in Jūrmalciems. After the death of his parents, he lived in complete solitude at his native farmstead, "Veckupši" in Jūrmalciems. You see him as such in the 1937 photograph in the reconstruction of the sculptor's room: at the workbench with a chisel and a hammer in his hands, barefooted, in torn pants, wearing a jacket that was put on quickly at the time of the photo shooting.

In 1944, when the front was approaching, he left in October and was lost to his homeland for almost half a century. Missed in action, possibly perished ‒ this was said in Latvia when talking about the sculptor. Until what could be called a miracle, or perhaps a regularity, happened.