Michael Sockett was a dental surgeon in Stokesley, Middlesbrough. He was born on 13 May 1936 in Middlesbrough, the son of Cecil Sockett, an assistant works manager, and Leila Sockett née Burgess. He studied dentistry at the University of Durham and qualified in 1959. He became a fellow of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1961. He joined a dental surgery in Stokesley as an assistant and became a partner in 1963. Previously known as Sockett, Straw and Gibson, the practice was eventually renamed the Stokesley Dental Practice. He retired in 1996. In 1963 he married Gillian (‘Gill’) Newhouse. Sockett died on 4 October 2018 at the age of 82. He was survived by Gill, their children and grandchildren.