Michelle D. Brawley passed away on June 19, 2022 with her husband of 39 years, Ralph by her side. Michelle was born in Queens, NY to Daniel and Ethel Katz. She grew up in a loving family along with her two sisters, Helene and Phyllis, as well as many cousins. She graduated high school at the age of 16 and began studying to be an x-ray technician. Before completing her studies, she took time off and traveled to Europe with friends and finished school once home from her trip. She met her future husband the day after her 20th birthday and they later married on August 21, 1983. They settled in Bellmore, Long Island and moved to Durango in 1999. Michelle had always known she was a country girl and wanted to live in the country with the wide open spaces and for her love of animals. She loved water skiing, snow skiing and scuba diving, but her real passion was traveling, she was her happiest traveling to far away places that she had never been to before.
She is survived by her husband, Ralph; sister, Helene; brother-in-law, Peter; niece, Tara and her children, Michael Nickole; nephew, Greg (Sulafa) and many cousins and friends.
There will be a Celebration of Life at 11am on Saturday, July 16th, 2022 at Hood Mortuary Chapel, 1261 E. 3rd Ave., Durango. In lieu of flowers please donate in Michelle’s name to La Plata County Humane Society or Wounded Warriors.