Melynda Kaye Stotts

Born, April 12, 1943, Long Beach, CA. Her unmarried Mother chose to let her be adopted. About a week later, Merritt Allan Smith and Eris Marie Gills did so. They lived mostly in Clarkdale, AZ. According to Mindy, they were not very nurturing people and lots of unhappiness ensued. By age 17, in 1960, she eloped and married Joseph R Stotts in Las Vegas.

Three sons were raised in that family; Joseph R II, David and Danny Stotts were all born within 4 years. She must have had roller skates to handle the likes of these boys. The stories she told me always showed her love for family. They lived in Phoenix and in the Los Angeles area.

After many years, that marriage dissolved and Mindy was a single lady, again. She worked for Orange County, CA, social services for many years until they downsized. Next, she moved back to AZ near her son, Joey and assisted with the care giving for her grandson, Benjamin. Her children and grandchildren were always the lights of her life.

At Joey’s home, Mindy met my daughter, Lisa. And, the final chapter began; we found each other in 1994, after a blind date arranged by Lisa. We married on June 30, 1999, Prescott, AZ. We were living in Sun City Grand by then and were members of the Glass Arts Club and were Beginner instructors. In 2004, we told our families we were married, ha…

In 2009/10, I found her birth Mother thru good luck and some help provided by her ex Joe Stotts. Then, we found her half-sister Norma and they talked nearly every Thursday. Earlier this year, I found her birth Father’s name and her heritage thru Ancestry DNA. She’s Russian-Portuguese. Mindy’s birth parents were Bernard Vincent Loureiro and Rosalie Maxine Tessman. That was one of the last things she had always wondered and now knew.

In June 2014, Cancer was discovered. She did 39 Chemo and five Radiation treatments trying to continue with Life; but couldn’t. Mindy passed away, Monday, June 20, 2016