On April 23, 2025, the world lost a giant. Michelle Dunson Trout, an Army brat born in Bradenton, Florida, was full of curiosity, empathy, and dark humor. Since she was a child, she had a crush on Mighty Mouse. She delighted in playing April Fool's jokes-like serving toothpaste filled oreos- to her now grown children, Rowan Lee Gallagher and Holly Trout. She expressed herself creatively in many ways, which she loved to share with those around her. She played piano, sang with the church choir, dove deep into special interests like film, sci-fi, gemstones, and birds. A voracious reader, she practically inhaled books. In recent years, she shared herself best through bitmojis… so many bitmojis!

Michelle was an actor. She included her kids with running lines, rehearsals, and performances, which inspired them to pursue their own creative outlets. She was a powerhouse on the stage, able to make the audience laugh, gasp, or recoil. During a production of Othello, she broke her hip mid-scene without anyone else realizing it. She delivered her impassioned monologue and performed until the curtains closed.

Michelle was ruthless at cards. Preferring hearts or bridge, she regularly defeated her beloved sisters Jeanne McLaren, Janis Wilson, Lorrie Hartley, and Marlies Dunson, and anyone else who dared play. A scientist's daughter, she was proud of her many years working at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Michelle listened. She helped you weigh your options on whatever you were trying to decide and threw in some zingers for consideration as well. Her twisty mind, her irreverent humor, and her genuine interest in her loved ones' lives will live on in all of us who were lucky enough to know her,