Obituary of lester roy michael

LESTER ROY MICHAEL 1947 – 2022 Lester (Les) Roy Michael passed away peacefully at his home in Pensacola, Florida on the evening of June 14, 2022, following a six-year battle with cancer. Les was born on October 7, 1947 in Urbandale, Iowa, to Rosemary and Lester Michael, and graduated from high school there in 1965. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1996 from Columbia College in Missouri. He proudly served his country as a member of the United States Air Force from March 28, 1966 until his retirement on August 31, 1988 as a Senior Master Sergeant. During his service he was an Avionic Instrument Systems Superintendent for 7 ½ years, and a Technical Instructor, Avionic Systems Technician for 15 years. Three of those service years he was on active duty in Vietnam. Les received numerous decorations, medals, citations, and campaign ribbons during his years of service. Les had an active childhood with Scouts, little league, playing in the school band and his paper route (in the Iowa snow on a bicycle). From childhood he enjoyed the outdoors with hiking, camping, backpacking, and fishing. Les was never afraid to take off on his own for days at a time. As an adult he also loved playing tennis, traveling, and spending time with friends and family. In addition, he was an avid boater and gave his family and friends many special memories including sunset cruises, riding the tube behind the boat, rafting up behind Paradise Bar and Grill for “flinking” and kicking it up on that dance floor, plus his special knack for finding dolphins in the bay to the delight of us all. Les was so loved by his family and friends. Each of us has many special memories that we will always cherish. He was as important to us as we were to him. Les is survived by his sisters Ruth and Kathy, brothers Jim and Don, son Robert, granddaughters Ashley and Abby, and grandson Corey, as well as many nieces, nephews, and cousins. Les is also survived by his special friend Klaus Rosinski and by the love of his life of the last 11 years, Cindy, whose family always considered Les to be a member of their family, and her grandson, Major, to whom Les has been PawPaw since he was born. Internment of ashes will be held at Barrancas National Cemetery at NAS Pensacola on July 18. Due to security restrictions on base, attendees will be escorted by the Honor Guard promptly at 2:00 p.m. from Olive Baptist Church Warrington Campus, 103 W. Winthrop Avenue, to the internment site. Following the internment service, all attendees will be escorted directly to a Celebration of Life at The Oaks Restaurant located at the A. C. Reid golf course. The family would like to thank Family-Funeral Cremation for their assistance to the family in this difficult time and Covenant Care Hospice for their home care of Les in his last few weeks. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Covenant Care Hospice.