Micheline Headland

Born in 1936, she lived during the second world war in Bordeaux, in south-west France, and endured, along with her two sisters, Marie and Eliane, hard times in the home city while it was under occupation by the German army.

Due to family circumstances, she was raised along with her sisters in a convent which was a tough upbringing for young girls.

But it didn’t do her any harm, and she formed an independent and positive spirit that remained with her the rest of her life.

She worked with her sister Eliane in an embroidery shop they ran in Bordeaux and was in love with embroidery, cross-stich and everything connected with fine cloth and linens, sometimes making extra money in the delicate art of French weaving, or invisible mending.

Later, she adventured to Abidjan in the Ivory Coast the French overseas territory in West Africa. There she worked with flowers and the export of fine tropical flowers sent back to the French market daily by air.

I was then working in Abidjan managing a fleet of American-owned freezer trawlers. We met on the beach one Sunday afternoon after I had got several boats back to sea after repairs.

She was sunning herself on a large log that had broken free from the rafts of logs being loaded on to freighters off the coast for export and had washed up on to the beach.

Conversations were limited as my French was bad and limited to that needed to run fishing boats. Her English was non-existent. But we got on fine with easy words and sign language for the first few months. It didn’t take long for us to decide to plan a future together.

I joined the Star-Kist tuna fleet management of the super-seiners fishing in the eastern Atlantic for their Puerto Rico tuna cannery. After a few months based in Abidjan, I was moved to Ghana, next door, and visited her in Abidjan when I could on frequent business trips there.

We were married in September of 1973 in Abidjan, and she moved to Ghana with me where we spent five happy years, before being transferred to Los Angeles to work at Star-Kist’s main office.

Our wonderful daughter Stephanie was born shortly after our arrival in LA and we spent 11 years there before being moved to Brittany in western France where we spent the next eight years.

The move to France was even more enjoyable as it was close to her mother, who still lived in Bordeaux, so we were together often, either in Bordeaux, Brittany or the old railway crossing keeper’s cottage we bought in Neuvic in the beautiful Perigord region of south-west France.

In 1996, we were transferred to Cincinnati, where Star-Kist had moved their head office to Newport KY.

Micheline started working with a home help agency in the Milford area, where she absolutely loved working for several years caring for older people, some even younger than she was. She was greatly thought of and loved by her clients and those she worked with.

Micheline is survived by her two sisters, Eliane and Marie, her Husband, Bruce, daughter Stephanie and son-in-law Greg along with four beautiful grandchildren, Sophie, Matthew, Ryan and Emma.

Micheline spent her last two years in the memory care home of Sage Park Gahanna, where she lived happily until the last two months when her condition declined rapidly, leading to her sad death on Good Friday.

She will be sadly missed by all her family, friends in the USA and France, along with her colleagues who will all certainly cherish the memories of an energetic, caring, and loving lady who enriched their lives by their knowing her.

May she rest in peace along with her Mamie, cousins, friends and family who took the journey before her.

A visitation for Micheline will be held Wednesday, April 19, 2023 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Schoedinger Margarum Northeast, 1051 E Johnstown Road, Gahanna, Ohio 43230, followed by a funeral service at 12:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Alzheimer's Association in the name of Micheline https://www.alz.org/