Michele E. Johnson

Michele Johnson passed away peacefully at home on the evening of September 23, surrounded by loved ones. Born Michele Eva Bichette on April 9, 1942, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, she was raised by her adopted parents Frances and Paul Bichette in Tappan, New York, alongside her younger sister Carol.

Michele graduated from Nyack High School in 1960, where she was homecoming queen and voted the cutest girl in school. She married her high school sweetheart W. Richard Johnson on September 7, 1963, who affectionately referred to her as Mickie; they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this year. They lived in Tappan, Blauvelt, and then Upper Nyack, New York where Michele worked for Lydecker Realty for 20 years before settling in Carmel, Indiana in 1980 with their two children, Suzanne and William.

After moving to Indiana for Richard’s job, Michele decided to go back to school. She put herself through accounting school at Indiana University and proudly graduated from the Kelley School of Business with honors in 1984. After graduation, she became a CPA and worked for H.J. Umbaugh & Associates before she started her own business. She worked for many years in her home office before she sold her business in 2014 at the age of 72.

Michele was an enthusiastic reader and had many friends through a book club that she was a member of for several years. Along with reading, Michele enjoyed countless hobbies, including piano at home and for her church, needlepoint, sewing, painting, aerobics, and spending time with her family. She also enjoyed volunteering and spent many years as a board member with the Concord Community Development Corporation, winning the Hope Award in 1997. Michele was a caring and passionate matriarch for her family and loved creating memories with them at the family’s vacation home that they owned for 27 years in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

Michele leaves behind many loving family members and friends and is survived by her husband, Richard Johnson and her children, Suzy LaPlante (Robert) and Bill Johnson (Donita). She leaves behind her four cherished grandchildren, Sydney and Bailey LaPlante and Natalie and Sam Johnson.

Michele is preceded in death by her parents, Frances and Paul Bichette, her beloved sister, Carol Young, her brother, Richard Bichette, and her nephew, Neil Italiano. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

There will be a visitation from 4 – 7 p.m., on Tuesday, October 3 at Flanner Buchanan – Carmel and Mass of Christian Burial at 1 p.m., on Wednesday October 4 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church. In lieu of flowers, please make donations in her memory to the Alzheimer’s Association of Indiana.