Michele's Memorial Fund

Michele Penn was a devotedly loving wife, mother of 5 children; 4 sons and 1 daughter, and proud Grandmother of several children who all competed with showing their affection as much as she did. She became Muslim after meeting my father 40 years ago and deciding that he was who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Her spiritual families across Detroit and Tennessee know her by the name of Fatima Abdul-aziz.

Her birthday/Wedding day

She was extremely passionate about cooking. She would feed anyone who passed by her house and stopped to knock on her door to find out who was responsible for the fantastic smell. Many relatives know her for her infamous banana pudding and various pies and cakes at every family reunion.


She was quite addicted to jewelry, so much so that she taught herself how to bead using a starter kit for kids. Talk about determined. She learned how to loom intricate designs and made beautiful gifts for me and my daughter. The last thing that she gave my daughter was bracelet made of pearls, one of her favorite stones. Making jewelry was one of her most favorite things to do with her time.


It’s a well-known fact that she loved cats as much as her children. She even talked to them often and gave them the same level of care. I truly believe they soothed her in her times of pain and difficulty through her episodes with having Asthma and COPD.


The first half of Michele’s life was very active and constantly busy with volunteering for her mother’s church and later being a central community figure after becoming Muslim, so she was completely content with being a homebody towards the latter portion of her life and enjoyed being still. 

Michele with all of her children

Michele was an only child, so her cousins were her siblings, and she was close with so many of them that its literally not feasible to count them all. She also had intimate relations with all of her aunts and uncles, and was always sharing posts on Facebook about how incredibly grateful and happy she was to have her family, friends and loved ones near and abroad. She loved wide and hard, and now we attempt to give her as much love as she selflessly gave to everyone else.
 
Above everything else, Michele was passionate in her relationship with her Creator, and even though she was often in pain from Arthritis and Asthma-related issues, she was always thankful for her blessings.

 
I am my mother’s only daughter. I was born breech (feet first) so she always said that was because I wanted to stay close her heart…and I was closest to her heart when she was taken off of Life Support Saturday evening. When I was little, people would often look at us as though we were weird, and even questioned us at times about how we were able to get along so well and talk to each other so intimately. For them, it was a strange sight to see. For us, it was exactly as it was supposed to be. I was homeschooled all my life and she brought the world to me through my mind until I was able to experience it for myself, and that made it easier to not have culture shock when I did have those milestones like my first job and traveling on my own. She poured everything she had into me and Everything I am today...is because of her.

A field of purple flowers, two of my mother's most favorite gifts.

The amount of $5000 will be used to cover the memorial expenditures of the funeral home package and burial costs.  Her body will be prepared for burial according to the funeral rites of the Islamic faith. Her casket is included in these costs as well as the burial plot, vault fees, and opening and closing of the grave.
 
We would need to have the funds collected by the day of the burial, which is Thursday, July 12th.
 
Myself,  Tasneem Joseph, will be in charge of the final expenses under the consideration of my mother’s father, Dr. Leroy Maurant,