Michele Bauer

Michele Joan Van Eaton Bauer, 70, of Satellite Beach, Florida and Dayton, Ohio, passed away on April 4, 2023, ten years to the day that her next oldest sister passed and following an 18 year long battle with Leukemia. Michele was born on January 8th to John and Mary Jane Van Eaton in Fort Benning, Georgia.

As the youngest of four daughters of a career military officer and proud army BRAT, Michele lived in nine different locations and attended three different high schools, two of which were in Germany, before graduating from Monmouth Regional High School in New Jersey. But, it was her time in Kaiserslautern High School, home of her beloved K-Town Raiders, which she loved and connected with the most.

As a newly single mother of two, Michele relocated to her family farm in Xenia, Ohio and joined Outdoor Sports Headquarters, with the support of her parents. She put herself through school obtaining a degree in computer programming from Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio.

Fate struck on Valentine’s Day eve, Friday the 13th, 1981, when Michele met her future husband, Ron at Sweetwater Nightclub in Dayton. In her characteristically assertive fashion, she identified the tallest man in the room, walked up to him and asked him to dance; he said yes.

As many who knew her can attest, she was also fiercely independent, insisting that she support her two boys on her own for a minimum of three years before she remarried. Shortly after Ron and Michele said “I do”, they built their home and life together in Centerville, Ohio, continuing what would be nearly 40 years of life together.

In 2010, Ron and Michele acquired a second home in Satellite Beach, Florida. As Michele began spending more time in Florida after retiring, her childhood skills as an army Brat allowed her to forge many new friendships with her Space Coast women over 55 and her yoga group. Almost everyone she met soon considered her to be their best friend.

Michele was an avid reader with an insatiable curiosity and keen intelligence who did not suffer fools gladly, yet she was also kind-hearted and generous with her time and attention for a friend or family member in need. As a woman of principle and integrity, time and again she would step in to help care for the financial needs and physical wellbeing for two of her sisters, her aunt, her mother, and her mother-in-law while battling cancer herself. She also shared her experience and insights from battling her own cancer with fellow patients in her support groups, selflessly helping them care for their own needs.

Michele is survived by her husband, Ron Bauer of Dayton and Satellite Beach, former husband Lowell Thomas Wynn, Jr.; two sons, Lowell Thomas Wynn, III (James Allen Kulackoski) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Eric Jeffrey Wynn Bauer (Ashley Griffin) of San Clemente, California; nieces, Mysara Wujnovich (Michael), Zo Van Eaton Meister (David), Michelle Charfen Horvath (Christian), Melissa Byrd (Matthew), Vanessa Cherfen McGrath (Nate McGrath) and Forest Taylor; nephew, Alex Charfen (Cadey) and grandchild, Conrad Apollo Griffin Bauer.

Michele is predeceased by her parents, John and Mary Jane (Velzy) Van Eaton of Xenia, Ohio, and sisters Marilyn Van Eaton of Yellow Springs, Ohio. Jeannie Charfen of Ladera Ranch, California, and Melanie Taylor of Yellow Springs, Ohio; her in-laws, Karl and Dorothy (Humbert) Bauer of Massillon, Ohio (Melbourne, FL, North Canton, Ohio and Rittman, Ohio).

Services will be held on Saturday June 17, 2023 at 1pm at the Life Event Center at Florida Memorial 5950 S. Hwy US #1. Rockledge, FL 32955.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, an organization Michele felt strongly about.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.FloridaMemorialFH-Gardens.com for the Bauer family.