Sylvia O. Michaels

Sylvia was born February 27, 1933, in East Haven, the second child to parents, Julie and Martin Olson, natives of Norway. Martin was a shopping center pioneer in Connecticut where he developed many shopping centers in Groton, New London, and Mystic, including Olde Mistick Village. As a young women, she attended St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Mystic, later in life St. Martins in the Field, Pompano Beach, Florida.

She attended school at Hamden Hall and Yale University. Soon after, she enlisted in the Navy as a physician’s assistant based in Oakland California, where she met and married the love of her life, Joseph Michaels. They raised their children, Martin Michaels, James Michaels, and Sharon Waldo in Mumford Cove and Orange Connecticut. In the summer of 1969, they moved to South Florida where they opened the family business, Michaels Plumbing.

Sylvia’s life consisted of raising her children and grandchildren, boating in Montaug, Sag Harbor, Bimini, and the coast of South Florida. She was a founding member of the Ladies Fish-Off Fishing Tournament. Sylvia enjoyed poker with the family on Sundays and always walked away from a casino with winnings. She was a second generation member and shareholder of the Lauderdale Surf and Yacht Club, where she served as a board member since the early 1980s and was its first woman president. If she wasn’t fishing, she was spending her free time on the family compound just east of the Florida Everglades, which consisted of over 100 acres of land where they entertained family and friends on any given weekend. She was a world traveler, going on trips with her husband, children, siblings, and their children. One of her favorite sayings was, “Hey why not, life’s too short not to have a good time.”

Sylvia is survived by her husband Joseph Michaels of 59 years. She was mother to Martin Michaels, Sharon Waldo and James Michaels; mother-in-law to Debbie Michaels, Dona Michaels, Gary SanGiacomo, and Tom Waldo; grandmother to Christina and Aaron Buerosse, Michael Waldo and Amy Caldwell, Julie and Dallas Nichols, Barrett Michaels, Anthony Bell, Christopher Bell, Roxanne and Christopher Zomper; great-grandmother to Sebastian, Logan, Dallas Jr., Dylan, Annabella, Christopher, Anthony, Blake, Aiden; sister to Joyce Olson Resnikoff, Jerry and Vivian Olson, Martin and Iris Olson; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

Services will be held on Friday, June 22, 2012, at Forest Lawn North, 200 West Copans Road, Pompano Beach, FL. Visitation will be from 1:00 to 3:00p.m., followed by the service and burial.