Beloved Vice President, Advocate, & Lung Transplant Community Leader
Michelle and her husband, Michael at the 2014 Second Wind Lung Walk
It is with deep sorrow and profound respect that we announce the passing of Michelle Bass-Williams, whose tireless service, compassionate leadership, and personal courage as a lung transplant recipient have left an indelible mark on countless lives through her work with the Second Wind Lung Transplant Association of St. Louis.
A lung transplant recipient herself, Michelle knew intimately the trials and triumphs of the transplant journey. From this place of deep empathy, she stepped forward not only as a survivor but as a guiding light for others. As Vice President of the St. Louis chapter of Second Wind, she dedicated herself to building bridges of support for transplant candidates, recipients, caregivers, and families ensuring that no one faced the challenging road alone.
Under her leadership and advocacy, the organization strengthened its reach and impact. Michelle helped expand the Assistance Fund, which has raised nearly half a million dollars to help patients and families cover non-medical costs associated with transplantation — travel, housing, medications, utilities — those burdens that all too often threaten to overwhelm someone already fighting for their life.
Michelle was also instrumental in organizing community-building events such as the annual Second Wind Lung Walk, which served not only as a vital fundraiser but as a visible, joyful gathering of survivors, supporters, and friends — each “walking miracle” forging awareness and hope. She championed education and outreach, ensuring that people waiting for transplants found practical guidance, emotional support, and the sense of belonging crucial to getting through the darkest days.
Her warmth extended to the small, everyday moments: the newsletters, the monthly social gatherings, the mentoring of newly diagnosed patients. In her hands, these were not ancillary services; they were lifelines. Michelle understood that healing is communal, and that the post-transplant journey requires care not just of the body, but of the spirit.
Michelle’s contributions ripple on in the improved lives of people helped by the Assistance Fund; in families comforted by her advocacy; in community awareness of organ donation raised by her voice. Her legacy is a living one, carried forward by those she inspired to action, by those she comforted in fear or doubt, by those she lifted with hope.
She will be dearly missed — but we take comfort in knowing that her work continues in the lives she touched and the structures she helped build. May her memory be a blessing and a call to others to give of themselves with the same dignity, compassion, and strength she so fully embodied.