Melissa Anne Mead

Melissa Mead was born on January 27^th, 1977, and on February 6^th, 2022, she passed away from Metastatic HER2+ Breast Cancer surrounded by family, rocking out to Aerosmith. Melissa was cool like that. She did a lot in her 45 years of life, but the thing she was proudest of was raising her two children to adulthood. She had a son in 1996 and a daughter in 1998. She raised them both and worked very hard as a single mother. She did an incredible job, may we all just say, and she supported her kids’ dreams no matter how wild. Melissa was such a supportive mother, she moved to Los Angeles with her daughter in 2017 so her daughter could pursue her dream of becoming an actress. She was always the type of person who would do anything for her kids.

She was also an extremely active person environmentally and politically. Whenever she found a cause she believed in, she would do everything she could to support it. One of her favorites was chimpanzee conservation. Ever since she was a child she was obsessed with all animals and chimps quickly became the one she loved most. This led to other interests like her fascination with Africa and the cultures of the world. She dreamed about one day travelling through Africa and experiencing all of the nature and the people that side of the world has to offer.

Melissa was the type of person anybody could always come to for help and she would find a way to support them. She met so many people and was able to become their friend because of her personality that was locked on “open and excited to help”. She met her best friend Shana at the bus stop before middle school when Melissa noticed she was standing alone so she walked up to her and informed her they were friends now. They stayed best friends until the very end.

She was so grateful for all the people she was able to meet in her lifetime and everything she got to experience. The best piece of advice she ever gave was always do the little things you’re given the chance to do. Even if you don’t think they will be that big of a deal, you never know. They could end up changing your life and you don’t want to regret missing out.

She was such a wonderful person with an awesome sense of humor (even if she liked puns a bit much). When she started something, there was no question that she was going to finish it and all she did and wanted to do was bring good into the world. Before she was diagnosed, she was working on starting a non-profit called AttendAble which was geared toward helping kids with disabilities and their families find the necessary tools for getting through school. There’s no doubt that had she had the time AttendAble would have had a magnificent future.

Melissa is survived by her children Andrew and Ema Doenges as well as her parents Virginia DeWitt and Richard Mead and her step-mom Annette Mead.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in her name to either The Jane Goodall Institute https://janegoodall.org/ or The Huntsman Cancer Institute https://give.huntsmancancer.org/page/30815/donate/1