Mary (Melody) E Lavery Smith

Melody Marlaine Lavery was born on April 24, 1969, in Salem, Oregon. She was the youngest daughter of Delbert and Inez Lavery, and sister of Christine, Margaret, and Fred. That summer the family moved to Olympia, Washington. Melody was the cutest little girl with big blue eyes, the color of the bluest sky, the bluest lake, a pool of life and a sparkling personality. She brought so much joy and happiness to our family. Around the age of 2 we discovered she wasn’t learning to talk and was diagnosed with a learning disability, but that didn’t stop her from communicating. She learned sign language easily and later talking came to her with help from speech therapists.

Melody progressed thru school, it was difficult, but she did her best, determined to complete high school, because of that determination she graduated Tumwater High School in 1988. She had 2 children – a son, Delbert Michael Wesley Lavery, born on April 5, 1995, he passed away February 1, 1997; and a daughter, Summer Dawn Bunch, born on July 22, 2000, she was adopted into another family. Melody decided to pursue further education and enrolled in SPSCC, completing the program and transferring to Clover Park Technical College to finish her degree and graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Applied Technology in 2007.

Melody worked as a flagger for road construction. She also worked as a caretaker for the elderly. Melody worked as a cashier at both K-mart and Wal-Mart. She enjoyed working as a cashier, striving to please her customers with a smile and a cheerful attitude. She always went that extra mile to help the customer with what they needed.

She learned to take care of herself, what she didn’t know, she learned or invented a new way to get it done. Whether it was building shelves of cupboards for her home, or fixing her broken car. She wasn’t afraid to take on any task. She threw some great parties, including one for her, and her siblings, parent’s 50th anniversary. Of course she got the whole family involved in putting it together and even surprised her parents with the appearance of the pastor who had married them. She was always thinking of other and went out of her way to make them feel special and important.

Melody was a great animal person. She was a keeper of 6 cats – Sandy, Sassy, Silver, Blackie, Fluffy, and Junior. They were her family; she treated them well, spoiling them to an extent. They brought her endless hours of joy, companionship, and entertainment. They even brought their share of dilemmas – as they were always into something they shouldn’t be. She depended on their company every day, as they snuggled with her, and gave her their unconditional love and devotion.

Melody passed away on May 23, 2013 in her home, at the age of 44. Also, surviving her are 7 nieces – Brandy, Sinda, Latisha, Jil, Marie, Sara, and Courtney, 1 nephew – Joel, and 10 great-nieces and nephews – Alannah, James, Mikey, Sammi, Athena, Aaron, Nick , Eric, Lilyann, and Natalie; and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, and a host of friends. She was loved by many and will be greatly missed. We are left with all the memories we made together and she will continue to live on in our hearts