Obituary of Phyllis Harriet Michel

Phyllis Harriet Michel Resident of Mountain View, California March 2, 1949-November 23, 2011 Phyllis Harriet Michel, beloved wife of Robert Michel, passed away from the effects of metastatic breast cancer on the evening of November 23rd, 2011 at El Camino Hospital. Her husband and her brother, Steven Karp, were with her in her last minutes. She was born Phyllis Harriet Karp in Stamford, Connecticut in 1949. Phyllis graduated from high school in Stamford and attended George Washington University in Washington DC for three years starting in 1967. In the mid-1970s she decided to move to San Francisco CA, and eventually earned a degree in Urban Planning from San Francisco State University. During this time she became very active in the science fiction community of the Bay Area, a genre she loved throughout her life. In 1984 she obtained a position as a contract specialist for the US Geological Survey where she worked until her retirement in 2006. During this period she was active in the affairs of the Universal Unitarian Church of Palo Alto. She met her future husband in 1996 at an Earthwatch event and was a volunteer at an Earthwatch program in archeology in Arizona. She and her husband were married in August of 1997. After her retirement, she became active in local political and environmental issues and attended many city planning and Caltrain meetings. She also began working as a volunteer with the Breast Cancer Connection in Palo Alto after being diagnosed with the disease in 2008. After her treatment, she traveled extensively with her husband including trips to Munich, Helsinki, and Krakow as well as several locations in the United States. During her visit to Krakow, she visited a museum devoted to the war years in Poland including Oskar Schindler's exploits and discovered that one of the people saved by him was named Phyllis Karp. After several years of being cancer free, she was diagnosed with metastatic cancer in her lungs and bones in September of this year. She had been able to attend many family events earlier in the year as she was active and physically fit until the last two months of her life. She is survived by her husband, Robert, her brother Steven, his wife Maureen, their children Marissa and Jeremy, her sister-in-law and brother-in-law Janet and Richard Rienbolt and their children Scott and Craig. She is also survived by many cousins who she maintained close contact with as family was very important to her. A memorial service will be held for Phyllis at the Universal Unitarian Church at 605 East Charleston Road, Palo Alto, at 3PM on January 15, 2012. In lieu of flowers we ask that donations be sent in Phyllis's name to Breast Cancer Connections, 390 Cambridge Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306. When Phyllis was first diagnosed with breast cancer, Breast Cancer Connections offered her the opportunity to discuss the issues involved with the disease with other women in a similar situation. This group offered her both emotional and technical support at a crucial time in her life. Finally, we feel that Phyllis left us much too early due to this disease. However, let us not forget the value her presence did add to our lives in the time she was here.




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