Carolyn J. Melius

Carolyn Jones Melius, 78, died at the University of Maryland Charles Regional Hospital. She complained of sharp pains in her stomach on September 19th, 2025. Her husband of 53 years, John David Melius (John), called 911. The EMTs came within minutes. She died the following afternoon of September 20th from an incontinent bowel.

Carolyn Frances Jones came into a family with unconditional love for each other. Robert Morris Jones (Morris) and Frances Genevieve Jones (Bee), her parents, predeceased her. Her older brother, Frederick William Jones (Fred), married Arlene Elizabeth Boles (Arlene). They live in Dunkirk, Maryland. Her predeceased younger sister, Kathleen Ann Jones (Kathy), married Robert Mark Staehle (Bob), and he lives in Silver Spring, MD. Carolyn and John produced a daughter, Alexandra Francoise Melius (Lexi), who married Robert William Phelps (Rob). They live in Bowie, MD, and have two boys. Daniel Josuha Phelps (Dan) is 12, and his younger brother, Benjamin Patrick Phelps (Ben), will be 10 this October. Nieces and nephews and cousins and others survive her and love her.

Carolyn learned to love everyone because her family taught her unconditional love. She spent her life working to assist others, leaving a positive mark on the lives of everyone she met and worked with.

Carolyn had a passion for teaching and cherished the many signs of growth she saw in her students. Adults working here in Waldorf would stop her and ask, “Are you the Ms. Melius who taught math?” “Yes, I taught math. What’s your name?” They told their names, and she always proved she remembered them. That surprised them. Often smiling, many said, “I didn’t realize how much I would use the math you taught me!”

She taught for six years in Clarksburg, MD, starting in 1968. She moved with John to Mannheim, Germany, in 1974 to teach for the Department of Defense Schools for ten years. She loved teaching elementary kids, and then middle school kids. She delivered her daughter Lexi at the US Army Hospital in 1981 in Heidelberg, Germany.

Lexi learned German as her first language at her childcare. Carolyn’s dad had a cancer scare in 1984, so John, Lexi, and Carolyn returned to Maryland. On her return, she taught high school math in PG County. Carolyn taught math in Charles County for over 20 years, sometimes in middle school math and sometimes in high school math.

Carolyn suffered a slow, steady decline in health from posterior cortical atrophy (PCA). PCA robbed her math skills and made perception of the physical world difficult. Despite PCA, she enjoyed and maintained loving familial ties and friendships.

She still wanted to do physical activities, but her eyesight didn’t permit it. She desired to be useful. She felt better when John assured her. “Your love works as a greater service to me than anything else could. I love you the way you are.”

Because of her powerful love, she lasted years longer than doctors predicted. She stayed strong right up till her last breath. John, Lexi, and Ben talked with her as she begged to escape the worst pain of her life and then died.

Carolyn worshiped with her family at Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church.

A celebration of life for Carolyn will occur on November 1st at 1:00pm. It will take place at Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Camp Springs, MD. At 11:15am on November 3rd, her interment will take place at the Cheltenham VA Cemetery in Rosaryville, MD. For further information on the celebration of life ceremony, call or text Lexi Phelps: 410-430-0420. If attending, please arrive early. This link will bring you to the celebration of life Zoom call: https://daviesuu.org/zoom/celebrationoflife.