Michelle Doris Pinette

Topsham, ME - Michelle Doris Pinette of Topsham, Maine passed away at the age of 44 in the early morning hours of January 26th, 2026. She passed as a result of a long battle with metastatic breast cancer. Michelle was born on March 4th, 1981 in Brunswick, Maine to mother Kim Billings and father Steven Schwarz. She is survived by her husband Jeff Pinette, her daughter Iris Pinette, her step daughter Natalia Pinette, her brother Rick Schwarz, her father Steven Schwarz, her grandmother Helen Schwarz, and many lifelong friends.

Michelle spent her life finding beauty within the world and others and made sure to share this beauty through her art. She graduated from USM in 2006 with a degree in Ceramics and continued to incorporate art into every aspect of her life. Growing up, Michelle fell in love with Martial Arts and worked her way up to black belt and spent many years mastering her skills. Michelle’s work ethic and determination were things she was always proud of. She most recently demonstrated these skills at FHC where she was the Medical Device Labeling Manager. Michelle had held a job at FHC for 9 years and previously worked at AC Moore

Michelle was a third-generation Masonic family member. She joined the International Order of the Rainbow Girls in 1992 and was a Past Worthy Advisor and Past Mother Advisor of the Bath Assembly #6. In 1999, she joined the Order of the Eastern Star and served as Worthy Matron of Electa Chapter #2 in Bowdoinham, Maine for three years. Michelle held state offices in both Rainbow and Eastern Star and earned her Grand Cross of Color in Rainbow.

She was known for her positivity, happiness, and loving personality. No matter the situation, Michelle would always have a positive perspective and choose to carry this positivity with her throughout her journey with cancer. Along with her love for art in all forms, Michelle was a gardener and lover of flowers as well as butterflies. She has spent many summers raising and releasing monarch butterflies having successfully released over one hundred in one summer. Michelle has adopted the monarch as her symbol and hopes that all her loved ones who see one are reminded of her and brought comfort.

While she was a homebody and would happily choose a staycation over travel, she did love her camp, and would spend many summers around the fire or ATV riding with Jeff. Although her life was cut unfairly short, she made sure to live every moment to the fullest and brought great love and happiness to everyone around her.

There will be a small family ceremony in the coming days and a larger celebration of life set to take place this spring that all are welcome to attend. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Breast Cancer Research foundation. The link can be found here: https://www.bcrf.org/