Umberto Micheletti

Umberto Micheletti, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, passed away peacefully on January 6, 2026 at the age of 90. 

Born on June 26, 1935 in Barga, Italy, he was the cherished son of Carlo and Boni-Domenica Micheletti with 1 brother and 3 sisters.

Umberto is survived by his wife of 44 years, Joyce Micheletti, of Lawrenceville, Georgia; 2 sons, Carlo Micheletti of Virginia, and Pablo Micheletti (Tammy) of North Carolina; his brother, Mauro Micheletti (Ann), 3 nieces, Carla Wante (Ken), Claudia Destro (Carlo), Laura Maurice (Maurice) and nephew Marco Micheletti (Amanda) all of Jersey, Channel Islands; 2 great granddaughters, Kelsey and Riley of Orlando, Florida; sisters-in-law Linda Ernest of Norcross, Georgia; Paula Moody of Snellville, Georgia; Debbie Kristiansen (Tore) of Loganville, Georgia; and nephew, Christopher Kristiansen of Austin, Texas.

As a young boy Umberto could be found working at the family farm herding his sheep in the mountains of Italy. However, things changed for him quite a bit after WWII ended.

In 1953 at the age of 18 he enlisted for mandatory service in the Italian army where he worked as a radio operator in the mechanized artillery unit.

In 1959 he moved to the island of Jersey, in the Channel Islands, where he began working as a waiter, later Matre’d and then as manager of various hotels and restaurants.

In 1969 he moved to Madrid, Spain, where he continued his career as Matre’d in hotel restaurants.

In 1971 he was recruited by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and began an illustrious career in the cruise line industry working later for Cunard, then Norwegian Cruise Lines, which included serving as Matre’d on the S/S Norway in 1980 (at that time the largest trans-Atlantic cruise ship in the world).

In 1981 he married Joyce Moody and came ashore to co-own a bakery in Miami, Florida. They moved to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1986 and Umberto began working in hotel restaurants until he was recruited back to NCL for a few more cruises before retiring.

Although his working career was primarily in the food/hospitality and cruising industry, Umberto was a self-taught man who could fix, build or design just about anything a person needed. However, his biggest passion was gardening, which kept his heart and soul fed in his later years.

He will be sorely missed by all who knew him as family and friend.

A memorial service celebrating Umberto's life will be held at Byrd & Flanigan Crematory and Funeral Service, 288 Hurricane Shoals Road NE, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30046 on Saturday, February 7, at 3:00pm. Visitors will be received prior to the service from 1:00 to 3:00pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) at myeloma.org "in memory of Umberto Micheletti."

 Arrangements by Byrd and Flanigan Crematory & Funeral Service, Lawrenceville. 770-962-2200