Michele Caroline Grimm left our world peacefully on January 27, 2025, after battles with medical issues that were happily preceded by a lifetime of world travels. Born in Connecticut and raised in Hollywood, Florida, Michele attended Miami-Dade Junior College before becoming a stewardess on a charter airline.

In 1970, on the first-ever flight of tourists to go around the world via the North and South Poles, she fell in love with a freelance photographer, Tom Grimm. He was hired by the tour company to document the month-long trip that became a romantic adventure for the couple, who married three months later in Florida.

Afterward Michele attended the photography classes Tom was teaching at the University of California, Irvine, and together they globetrotted the world as photojournalists to 135 countries and all seven continents, including Antarctica.

Among Michele's favorite subjects for her cameras were animals, especially lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and other wildlife she photographed on many safaris in Africa.

Michele and Tom's photos and articles appeared in major magazines and newspapers for more than 50 years. They also were authors and illustrators of a dozen photography, travel, and childrens books. Both were longtime members of the Society of American Travel Writers.

In addition to traveling for more than five years in motorhomes on several photographic odysseys of North America, Michele and her husband have lived in Islamorada in the Florida Keys, Laguna Beach and San Clemente in Southern California, Bend, Oregon, in the Cascade Mountains, and most recently in Osprey nearby the Gulf of Mexico in Sarasota County, Florida.

Michele is survived and sorely missed by her husband Tom, sister Garie Hannan Rose-Barton, and brothers Robert Hannan and Marc Hannan, all residents of Florida. She was preceded in death by sisters Janine Hannan David and Shelly Hannan Pitofsky, and brother David Hannan.

A celebration of the remarkable life of Michele Grimm will be announced at a later time. Instead of flowers, please make any donations in her honor to your favorite charities or causes.