Michele Teresa Mussen
Michele Teresa Mussen April, 1956 - August, 2009

Michele passed away unexpectedly on August 10 in her sleep in her home in Nicasio. She is already missed and mourned by her immediate and extended family and a wide circle of close friends in the Bay Area and Israel.

Born in Berkeley, April 28, 1956 to parents Paul and Ethel Mussen, she attended schools in Berkeley and Kfar Blum, Israel, and treasured friendships from those days through her final birthday bash at her beloved house in Jenner in 2009. She completed her degree in Social Work at U.C. Berkeley with an MSW and LCSW and pursued a career in helping others in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties and in Jerusalem.

Her lifelong passion for animals flowered at last in her Countryside Kennel and Rescue program in Santa Rosa where she brought her enthusiasm and social work training to the welfare of dogs, cats, horses, emus and assorted strays and unwanted pets. Her devotion to finding proper homes and loving parents for her charges was rewarded by the many happy testimonials to her ability to arrange the proper match.

She traveled widely and happily spent time in Africa with gorillas, lemurs, and other animals on safari. In addition, her sense of community dynamics led her to develop and acquire a variety of residential and live work properties in Marin and Alameda Counties, several in partnership with James Hart. She dreamed large, and vigorously tried to engage others in her vision for men and beasts. Her vitality and enthusiasm were recognized by friends and foes alike.

Next of kin are her mother; brother, James (wife Claudia, son Jacob); aunt Nurit Mussen (daughters Arbel and Sharon); Pinck family of San Jose; cousins and extended family in Israel; and the many Besbeck cousins in Calif., Missouri and Canada.

Friends and family and neighbors are invited to a Celebration of her Life at Ethel's Berkeley home on Sunday, September 13, at 2:00 p.m. 120 Hill Road, (off Grizzly Peak Blvd.) Another Celebration will be held in Santa Rosa, arrangements pending. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions will be welcomed by Countryside Rescue, 3410 Gurneville Rd., Santa Rosa, 94501, to continue the work she loved most.

Published in San Francisco Chronicle on August 23, 2009