Melody Ann Edwards, born April 5th, 1953, passed away at age 68 in her home in Chesapeake, Virginia, on November 9, 2021, after a 2-year battle with cancer. Her husband and two daughters were by her side in her final moments. She is survived by her daughters, Katie Reaves of Virginia Beach, VA, and Megan McKittrick of Chesapeake, as well as four grandchildren, her mother, Marilyn Hull of Fresno, California, and her two brothers, Mike and Mark Hull.

As a military family, Melody’s parents, Robert and Marilyn Hull were stationed in many places, so their children had many different homes. Melody was born in Davenport, Iowa, and lived in France and Germany until age 2 while her father was stationed there in the Army. The Hulls returned to Fort Irwin in Barstow, CA, then moved to Fresno, CA, where she attended Frank Thomas Elementary and Ahwahnee Junior High School. Melody loved sports and was always very competitive. Her favorite sport was basketball, and she played on the team at Ahwahnee. When her father retired from the Army, he went to work for the U.S. Forest Service in Lake Tahoe, CA, and Melody attended South Lake Tahoe High School. This was her favorite home. They lived in Lake Tahoe for the biggest snow year in Tahoe history, and she had many memories of skating on the pond, playing crack the whip, and shoveling a lot of snow (unless a friendly snow plow came along to help them).

After high school, Melody attended CSU Fresno. She completed two years in the nursing program at Fresno State before leaving the program to begin a career in medical records. While attending Fresno State, she joined a bowling league. As a competitive lover of sports, she was a talented bowler, and this is where she met her husband, Douglas Edwards. They met at the Fresno State Student Union Bowling Alley in June 1973. In telling the story of their meeting, Doug said, “every time I looked at her, she was looking back at me.” And as they were organizing teams, she walked over to his group, and said, “Wouldn’t it be better if it was two guys and two girls on a team? Why don’t we move this guy [pointing at Doug] on our team?” Four weeks later, he finally had the courage to ask her out and invited her to go rock climbing in Yosemite for the weekend with his brother, Jim Edwards, and his date. She said yes without hesitation. Doug said, “we had much more normal dates after that!”

Doug returned to UC Davis to complete his senior year, and he received a letter a day from Melody, who wrote to him while working the night shift in her job as a records clerk at St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, CA. Each letter had time stamps on them at 2 or 3 in the morning.

They married in August of 1974, and moved to Delano, CA where she worked in the local hospital as a medical records technician, while Doug sought work after graduation. They then moved to Newhall, CA, when Doug accepted a position in beekeeping, and Melody transferred to the medical records department at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. “She could walk into any hospital and get hired,” said Doug.

Money was tight in the early days of their marriage, and she budgeted carefully on small sheets of paper, making every penny count. Melody once wrote that money “didn’t seem to matter, though, as we had what we wanted and needed.”

They returned to Fresno, where Doug accepted a position as a bee inspector for Fresno County, and Mom returned to St. Agnes Medical Center. When their first daughter, Katie, was born, they moved to Clovis, CA, and Melody worked nights, while Doug worked during the day. Her mother would help as a bridge between, affording Melody opportunities to sleep. Melody continued that way until their second daughter, Megan, was born. She then left her job in medical records and established a client base to serve as a medical transcriptionist. She chose to work from home so that she could be the kind of mother she wanted to be.

The sound of her typing at extraordinary speed filled their home, sometimes at odd hours if her duties as a mother took precedent during the day. Her children often returned home from school to find her at the kitchen table or on the living room couch, finished with her work and eager to hear about their day. A quiet, supportive listener, she cared enough to be present for her daughters.

They lived that way until Katie moved to Virginia after meeting the love of her life in a marching drum corps called the Blue Devils. Katie soon married her love, Brad Reaves, and after a few years, they announced that Joshua was due in November of 2005: Melody was going to be a grandmother. Without hesitation, Melody urged Doug to retire, and they moved to Virginia with all of their worldly possessions strapped to their black pickup truck: “we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies,” said Doug.

They moved to Newport News, VA, where Doug began working for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), and Melody remained happily retired, throwing herself into her duties as a caregiver for Joshua while Katie worked as an elementary school teacher. Two years later, Joshua was to have a brother, Caleb, and when Doug retired, they moved to Chesapeake to be closer to the Reaves family. Joshua and Caleb spent many afternoons with their grandparents, playing board games and watching their favorite shows. Melody took great joy in them.

In 2013, Melody invited her parents to live with them in Virginia so that she and Doug could care for them as they aged, and in 2016, Nolan was born to Jimmy and Megan McKittrick. Her family continued to grow: in 2019, Nolan’s sister Hannah Melody joined them. Melody’s heart was full as a grandmother of four, and she cherished her time with them.

Melody was quick to laugh — a joyful, magnetic personality. Friends and strangers alike were drawn to her: even people standing in line with her at the grocery store couldn’t help but strike up a conversation. She was known for her boundless generosity, filling the home to the brim with Christmas presents and feeding local wildlife like squirrels and geese. She regularly browsed the SPCA website and always had a rescue pet in her home. She was a nurturing caregiver to her grandchildren, her children, her parents, her pets, and any passing wildlife.

Melody felt lucky to have lived the life she wanted to live, keeping her family at the center of it all. In a letter to her loved ones upon her death, she wrote, “I am so proud of my family and the love and happiness we have shared over the years. I love all my family — husband, daughters, grandchildren. I will miss being with you.”

At her request, no service will be held. Condolences may be sent to 1025 Warrington Boulevard, Chesapeake, VA 23320. Donations in her honor may be made to the American Cancer Society at https://www.cancer.org/involved/donate/memorial-giving.html or to the American Diabetes Association at https://www.diabetes.org/ways-to-give.