BAR HARBOR and LAKE PARK, Fla. – Michele Francis Testa III, 60, passed away July 9, 2010, surrounded by his friends and family at his summer home in Bar Harbor, after a long battle with cancer. He was born June 12, 1950, at Good Samaritan Hospital, West Palm Beach, Fla., the first son of Michele Francis Testa Jr. and Eleanor Moran Testa. Mike attended Palm Beach (Fla.) Military Academy and graduated from Palm Beach (Fla.) High School in 1969, and also attended Palm Beach (Fla.) Junior College. In his earlier years Mike excelled in football, surfing and water skiing, and later became an avid fisherman. He enjoyed time spent on the lakes and ponds of Maine in the summer, as well as the waters of south Florida and the Florida Keys in the winter. Mike followed in his father, uncle and grandfather’s footsteps, joining the family business, Testa’s restaurants in Palm Beach, Fla., and Bar Harbor, in 1975. Mike was a vice president of Testa’s, Inc. for more than 35 years, and worked overseeing and operating these family businesses started by his grandfather in 1921 and 1934 respectively. Mike was a founding director and generous contributor of the not-for-profit Downeast Rail Heritage Preservation Trust, Inc., a historic rail preservation group in Ellsworth, dedicated to the rail history of Maine and the restoration of a 30-mile portion of the Calais branch of the former Maine Central Railroad. Mike is survived by his loving wife, Katherine; sisters, Anna Striefel, Catherine Slick and Judith Testa; his brother, Thomas J. Testa; and their spouses; stepsons, Tyler, Shayne and Travis Bryant; a stepdaughter, Sarah Campbell; grandchildren, Nola and Reese Bryant; nieces, Jennifer Storey, Stephanie Striefel, Nina and Kate Testa; nephews, Alexander and James Storey, Christopher Striefel and Thomas Michele Joseph Testa; great-niece, Adelaide Storey; great-nephew, Asher Storey; and cousins, Dr. and Mrs. Rudolph P. Scheerer, Joseph C. Scheerer, Anita Scheerer Yelverton and Cathie Scheerer Fanjul. He is predeceased by his parents. A celebration of Mike’s life for friends and family will be held 5-7 p.m. July 16 at Testa’s Restaurant, Bar Harbor. For those wishing to send expressions of sympathy, contributions may be made in Mike’s name to Hancock County Homecare & Hospice, 93 Cottage St., Suite E, Bar Harbor, ME 04609.
MR. MICHELE F. TESTA III
