Michele Lee Gerstner

Michele Gerstner passed away peacefully on November 16, 2025, at the age of 72. Born to Robert and Dorothy Streitenberger, Michele grew up with her big sister, Karen, in Hialeah, Florida. As a child, she was a "real pistol," interested in and getting into everything. She got her first pair of glasses at age 4 and blithely threw them out the open car window on the way home. Needless to say, they were recovered, and she wore glasses ever since.

Michele truly enjoyed singing. She sang in the church choir and participated in the local division of Up with People where she met her future husband, Bill. He was attending the University of Miami, and Michele was head cashier at Grand Union Grocery. They married and moved to Lehigh Acres after Bill graduated and was offered a teaching position in Lee County. As Bill taught, Michele was a homemaker and enjoyed needlepoint, teaching young children in Sunday school, and participating in amateur theater with Bill. Within a few years, their son Eric came along followed by Robert a couple of years later. After giving them a good start, Michele became a paraprofessional working with physically and mentally handicapped children in middle school, a job she held until retirement. During that time they were blessed with the arrival of their daughters, Brandy and Bonnie.

Michele enjoyed her family and loved doing special activities with them. She was an excellent cook and talented crafter. She made interesting costumes and other items for holidays, including creepy witch fingers made of dough with sliced-almond fingernails for Halloween, as well as delicious fudge she shared with her extended family at Christmas.

Michele also loved to go to the Broadway Palm to see all kinds of plays and productions and was active in her Lehigh Acres church choir. When she had time off from school, she and her family frequently visited her parents and her sister’s family in northern Florida. With her family and friends, she was always ready for a game of dominoes or pinochle. When the kids got older, Michele and Bill did a lot of traveling. They visited Germany and found some of Bill’s extended family and also enjoyed Branson, MO, and Williamsburg, VA.

Michele was preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Dorothy Streitenberger; her husband, William Gerstner; her son, Robert Gerstner; and her daughter, Bonnie Gerstner. She is survived by her daughter, Brandy (Andrew) Panega; her son, Eric Gerstner; her grandson, Archer James; her sister, Karen Pearce; her niece, Laura (Henry) Rosenbrock; her nephew, Jeffrey (Pam) Parker; her great-niece, Anneka Rosenbrock; and her great-nephews, Rhys Rosenbrock and Finnegan Parker.

Loved by all who knew her, Michele will be dearly missed.

Donations may be given to Alzheimer's Association (donorservices.alz.org) in lieu of flowers.

A visitation will be held at Hodges Funeral Home at Lee Memorial Park, located at 12777 State Road 82, Fort Myers, FL 33913, on November 29, 2025, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. The funeral service will be held at 3:00 pm followed by interment in Lee Memorial Park Cemetery.