Kalistan

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Saying Goodbye to Michelle Ananto-Sandoval
Youngest Child of Carolina has died at 81
Dulnerstaad, Grand Duchy of Ananto
February 30, 5665


Princess and Naturalist Michelle Ananto, last November in Dulnerstaad, while viewing a family of Sea Otters

Life long naturalist and one time Regent, Her Highness, Princess Michelle Ananto-Sandoval, has died of a stroke at age 81 at her home in Dulnerstaad. The sister of the Late Emperor Fredrick III Ananto, daughter of Empress Carolina I Ananto and aunt of Her Imperial Majesty Mary I Ananto and Her Highness, Princess Margaret Ananto-DeLaurentis the former head of House Ananto turned Director of the National Aquarium and Maritime Wildlife Conservation Center held a lifelong commitment to the preservation, conservation and restoration of Maritime fauna in and around the Northern Anantonese Ocean. Lady Michelle viewed her life's mission as one of service, and through her donations of both time and money, the National Aquarium has become one of the premier Aquatic Wildlife sites in all of Terra.

Princess Michelle died of a severe stroke in her home just a couple months before her 82nd Birthday. She was surrounded by her family when she passed under the care of a Physician. The Princess was believed to suffer with hypertension for much of her later years, which is believed to have contributed to the stroke. Arrangements had been made for compassionate end of life care should they be needed, but the stroke ended her life first.

Lady Michelle Ananto grew up in the shadow of the Royal Family. Neither her nor her brother were prone to the taciturn characteristic of the Ananto Family: She was outgoing, gregarious, and easily made friends. She supported her brother until his untimely death and served as head of House Ananto well into the tenure of his successor, Her Imperial Majesty Mary I Ananto. Her time was known for aggressive foreign investment, as well as careful and transparent management of the Family's finances. She passed those traits to her daughter, the Lady Helen Ananto-Reynolds who took over for the Princess at House Ananto 16 years ago. From that point on, Lady Michelle her steadfast and careful guidance to the Dulnerstaad Aquarium full time, and worked with the Empress to get the seas around Dulnerstaad declared a National Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Zone. She eventually had to pull back from her job at the Dulnerstaad Aquarium as well, and worked part time as the Aquarium's grant writer and administrator for the last four years, and even worked the day before her death.

"Lady Michelle is beloved by all people who worked at the Aquarium," said her replacement director Yael Marquis last year. "You will never see such a tireless champion of the Sea as you do in the Princess. She is truly an inspiration to all of us: She has a lot of energy still and frequently leads tours in the Aquarium that she is largely responsible for building over the course of her lifetime. We just love having her around here, and she loves the job she does for us, which is writing grants for continued funding, for expanding services, and hiring more people. And she is so humble in her role too: While we know we all pretty much owe all of this to her, she only will accept a single dime a year for her time, and always talks up her team, without talking herself up ever. She is what we should all aspire to be."

Lady Michelle was committed to her vocation, more than anything else. It was her lifelong passion. "To me, the most important thing is our seas," said Princess Michelle in 5660. "Unhealthy seas lead to unhealth land. It's all a cycle, and the more we can do to help restore the natural state of our seas, the better off we all will be. Healthy fish populations, dolphins, whales, healthy corals, kelp forests, it all adds up to cleaner water, air and land. We are seeing some improvement, but now is the time to really go all out. And furthermore, I am so proud of what my niece, the Empress is doing with trees and land conservation in Kalistan and Ananto. Together we are returning Kalistan to a more natural paradise that we always said it was."

Indeed, Lady Michelle was responsible in her lifetime for the reintroduction of more than a dozen wildlife species into the Ananto Strait which had been either reduced to endangered status or were gone all together. "Our Nation has set the maritime area around Dulnerstaad as the National Maritime Wildlife Conservation Area, which aims to keep certain beach habitats off limits to development, and aims to keep large ships away from breeding and hunting grounds," said Lady Michelle". "Now we can see seals, otters, sea lions and some walruses beaching them selves here and swimming and hunting in our coastal waters, without having to worry about shipping or fishing competing with them for space. We can see blue whales here, sperm whales, bottlenose dolphins, sharks, and large schools of tuna and various ocean fish. We have restored several deep water reefs north of Ananto. Its a life's work one can be very proud of."

Princess Michelle is survived by her husband, Sir Tom Reynolds, and three children including Lady Helen Ananto-Reynolds, as well as seven grand children, all of whom are counted as members of the Royal Family in Kalistan. She was preceded in death by her mother and father, Carolina and William, and her brother Fredrick. The Princess has requested to be buried in the family mausoleum in Eveari. A small private memorial service will be held in Dulnerstaad, for family, colleagues and friends.

Rest in Peace to an important naturalist and a gentle soul.

@TheRepublic