Michele Frances Chase, born June 3, 1948, in Lisbon, Portugal, passed away on October 17, 2025, in Leesburg, Virginia. Michele - Miche - was a devoted mother, a proud grandmother, and a woman whose heart was rooted in family, friends, travel, and the simple joys of life (coffee, pastries and sweets, a good book, music, Sunday afternoon phone calls with family and old friends, French movies, and an occasional margarita). Michele had a deep love for traveling, especially her time spent in Maui and Aix-en-Provence, places that reflected her spirit. She found joy in cooking, sharing meals, and being surrounded by her Golson/Chase Tribe, whose bonds meant everything to her.  

Michele was born overseas to George Albert Golson and Beverly Margaret Barry. Due to George’s career as a mining engineer, she and her brothers Barry, Chris and Geoff, spent most of their formative years living abroad, in Portugal, Mexico City, southern France, Paris, Brussels, and The Hague. As result of her international upbringing, Michele spoke several languages fluently (French, Spanish, and English, with a working knowledge of Italian and Portuguese). Michele attended a Swiss finishing school in Geneva for her secondary education and eventually made her way to the all-women’s Dumbarton College in Washington, D.C. She made many lifelong friends at Dumbarton (shout out to the Dumbarton gals), but most importantly she met a U.S. Marine from Bessemer, Alabama in 1967 who was on his way to Vietnam. Michele and Thomas Ray Chase were married on June 27, 1970, following Tom’s service to his country. They had two children, Brian Thomas and Christopher Barry, and they spent the next nearly 40 years raising their boys, traveling the world and enjoying the company of their extended family and many close friends. Michele was a 40+ year veteran of the travel industry, including a lengthy career at Pam American Airways and Delta Airlines, and she had an unpaid side hustle of being travel agent to her family and friends for the rest of her life. Her buddy passes never went unused. The culmination of her career was a two-term stint as the employee representative to the Board of Directors of Delta Airlines. Michele and Tom’s journeys together—whether near or far—were some of the happiest chapters of her life, including unforgettable trips to the beaches of Hawaii for snorkeling and scuba diving, the Alps of Switzerland and Austria and the Rockies of Park City and Jackson Hole for skiing, many European capitals and old world cities for museums, plays, cafes, castles, and pain au chocolat, and a seemingly random trip to Guatemala to show her oldest son how some of the rest of the world lived, and how lucky he was.  

Michele was preceded in death by her parents, George and Beverly, her beloved husband, Tom, her little brother Chris (Kit), and her loving four legged companions, Buster (Golden Retriever) and Coco (Cockapoo). She is survived by her sons Brian and Chris, her daughters-in-law, Lindsey and Megan, grandchildren, Wesley, Patrick, Parker, Landon, and Audrey Mae, her brothers, Barry (Thia) and Geoff (Laurie), her half-sister (half in name only) Cecile, a host of nephews, nieces, brothers in law and sisters in law, godsons and goddaughters, extended family and too many dear, life-long friends to list, and her latest four legged companion, Remy (also a Cockapoo). Remy, and her boundless puppy energy and love, afforded mom great company and comfort in the last year of her life. Mom will be remembered for her warmth, her curiosity, her intelligence and thoughtfulness, her sharp sense of humor, and her unwavering devotion to those she loved. She was, and will continue to be, through the lessons she taught us all, the glue of an extended family that will miss her dearly.  

A celebration of life and visitation will be held on Sunday, February 1, 2026, at the Army Navy Country Club (Arlington) (1700 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, VA 22202) from 1:30 - 4:00 p.m. All are welcome and encouraged to come remember Michele. A service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery (1 Memorial Avenue, Arlington, VA 22211) on Monday, February 2, 2026, at 9:00 a.m., where Tom’s Honeybunny will go to rest with him forever in a setting worthy of their story.  

The family would like to thank the many healthcare workers that took great care of mom, particularly this past year, including those at the Schar Cancer Center and Heritage Hall.

In lieu of flowers, consider a donation the Lahaina Restoration Foundation (https://www.lahainarestoration.org/index.html), which is working to rebuild historical sites in Lahaina, Maui, or Life with Cancer (https://www.lifewithcancer.org/get-involved/ways-to-donate/), which is a cancer support group through the Schar Cancer Center.