Michele Germaine Bissonette died after a brief illness at age 79 shortly after 9:00 p.m. on September 30, 2026, at Kline Hospice House in Mt. Airy, Maryland. She was born in Washington DC on September 5, 1947, to René Lacoste (aka Richard René) Bissonette and Marine Sawyer Bissonette.
She was married to Karl-Heinz Boehle, originally of Hamburg, Germany, for 48 years at the time of his death in December 2022. The couple moved to The Lodge at Homewood Living in Frederick, Maryland in January 2021. Previously they lived in Lanham, Maryland for 27 years with their beloved dogs.
Michele earned a BA in English and History from Towson State College (now University) and an MA in American Studies from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Michele worked for 40 years in management positions at Computer Sciences Corporation’s headquarters in Greenbelt, Maryland. She oversaw the writing and editing of technical publications in support of numerous NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center contracts.
Being at hospice gave Michele the luxury of time to visit with or speak to people from every era and major segment of her life—high school friends, college and grad school roommates, former coworkers, and old neighbors—all with whom she remained in touch over the decades.
Michele’s most marked trait was her thoughtfulness. She listened with full attention when people talked about what they loved—a particular fruit, a style of cooking, a show on Britbox, a grandchild, or a dog or cat. She would then show up with, perhaps, a bag of white nectarines, a recipe for gazpacho, a magazine clipping about a streaming English murder mystery, a coloring book for a child, or a squeaky toy for a pet.
She and Karl adopted only rescue dogs and urged others to “adopt, don’t shop.” Hudson, their l last dog, had been returned to a rescue twice. When they saw a frightened, agitated dog barking to protect himself, backed into the corner of a fence, Karl pointed and said, “How about that one?” Huddy came home with them. He looked like a miniature timber wolf and lived happily to the age of 17, when he joined the souls of his six predecessors.
Michele donated generously and often to charities, including Doctors without Borders, animal welfare groups, and a local emergency housing center for people in crisis. Before her health declined, she was figuring out where she could insert herself as a volunteer at the housing center.
She loved the water. She and Karl went to their condo in the Outer Banks in May, and she joined to the Suitland High School Class of 1965 gang in Ocean City when she could. She spent many happy dates at Lake Kerr with work friends.
While in a twilight state in hospice, Michele quoted passages from Twain, Coleridge, and Tennessee Williams. Michele loved to play word and memory games, especially literary trivia—usually American and British. However, at times she was pressured into continental, which annoyed her because American was her cup of tea.
She is survived by her sisters Lisande Bissonette (Alan Keith Meyers) of Poolesville, Maryland; Nicole Martin (John Edward Rossi) of Frederick, Maryland; nephew-in-law Frank Liebschner (Barbara Freundt) of Bordesholm, Germany; and niece-in-law Maren Liebschner Poggensee of Hamburg, Germany. Michele also had a large “chosen” family of friends cultivated over a lifetime.
As her husband Karl-Heinz might say in making a toast, “To Michele: none better and damned few as good.” Cheers.