Melody Ann Skelton

Melody Ann Skelton, age 54, passed away on November 25, 2014. Melody was born on February 15, 1960 in Borger, Texas. Her parents were DeWayne and Doylene Maddox.

The family lived in the Texas panhandle for many years. Melody was a happy toddler. Her mother would often find her outside playing ball with Jesus. Melody would say "here Jesus, catch!" and then she would throw the ball up into the air. When Melody was six, the family moved to Moore, OK. Melody began school in Moore, at Plaza Tower's Elementary. Her older sister, Kim, was in the 4th grade. Her baby sister, Christy, was a newborn. Her younger sister, Terri, who was only 10 months behind Melody in age, would tie Melody's shoes for her. This was Melody's first time to be away from her mother and younger siblings. What made it worse was that she could look out the window of her 1st grade classroom and see her house. This would often make Melody cry to go home. In only a short time, she made many friends. She enjoyed running around the neighborhood with them. She also became involved in cheerleading with her younger sister, Terri.

When Melody was about 10 years old, the family moved to a large acreage in Carney, OK. They had horses and eighty acres to explore. Melody learned to play basketball for the Carney Bulldogs. She had a bit of a temper and was thrown out of a game once for slapping an opponent, after they stole the ball! Melody's parents divorced when she was about 13 years old. There was no way her mom could stay in Carney. So, the family again moved back to Moore, this time, with her new baby brother Michael.

Her mother had to get a job and go to work, which she had not done in many years. Melody and Terri went to junior high; Kim was in high school; Christy in grade school; Michael went to daycare. This was a very tough time for the family. Mom was not home after school anymore. Melody sewed her wild oats for the next few years.often to the extreme..even hitchhiking her way clear to New Mexico! Her mom had fallen for a man named Harry. All the kids loved Harry because he was a jokester who made everyone laugh. Melody would ask Harry, "When are you going to marry us?" Well, after three years of dating, Harry did marry her mom. The family then moved to a brand new house in Edmond, OK.

Shortly after moving to Edmond, Melody decided to move to West Texas to try to start a life near her sister Kim, who had married and started a family there. While living there, she spent a lot of time with her nephews, Ricky and Nicholas. After a few years, Melody decided to move back to the Oklahoma City area. She worked a few different jobs until she and her friend, Darla decided to move to Dallas.

While working as a waitress in a bar in Dallas, Melody caught the eye of Darrell Skelton, a man seven years older than her. Darrell would frequent this bar to see Melody. After a few weeks, Darrell asked Melody to take a trip to the Bahamas with him. Melody and Darrell had a wonderful time together while on this trip; it was so good that they kept it going for the next 29 years.

Melody and Darrell built a happy life together. In the beginning, Melody worked outside the home. When they decided to start their own business, she became the bookkeeper and managed the financial side of things. They were a good team, growing their very successful business over the many years.

Melody was an exceptional self-taught artist. As a young girl, she and her sisters would spend time with their Mammaw, who was an artist herself and taught them how to draw. Throughout the years, Melody used a variety of mediums, acrylics, watercolors, ink, pastels, etc., until she found her true love..wood burning. She developed her wood burning skills over the years and created countless pieces of art, which she gave to friends and family.keeping only a few for herself.

Melody had many loves, one of those was gardening. She spent countless hours working in her yard. Darrell built flower beds and pathways to help frame up her gardens. They were beautiful beyond description and a great source of pride for Melody; her rose bushes were the envy of her neighbors.

Another love of Melody's was her animals. Over the years, she and Darrell had a number of dogs and cats, many of them rescue-animals. At one time they had up to 6 cats! Melody took great care with her animals; they brought great joy to her life.

The most important love of Melody's was Darrell. She would put little notes in his lunchbox. They would be coded messages or picture puzzles for him to figure out. They would usually be something funny to make him laugh or a message that she loved him. She spent a lot of time and energy making their house a comfortable and loving place for Darrell to come home to.

Melody and Darrell never had children, so Melody doted on her nephews. Each of her sisters had two sons. All of these boys enjoyed spending time with Aunt Mel. She took them shopping, to the movies and even endured Chuckie Cheese! There were no rules at Aunt Mel's...she always said that "what happens at Aunt Mel's stays at Aunt Mel's."

Melody was a fun-loving soul. She had a playful side and a laugh that was contagious. She liked to play little tricks on her nephews. One time the family was gathered at her mom's house for the holidays. While they were sleeping, Melody drew mustaches and beards on Ricky and Nic's faces. When they woke up, Ricky ran into the kitchen saying "Momma, Momma, somebody drew a mustache on Nic's face!" All the while, little did he know, he was sporting a mustache and goatee. Once, she scared Brad and his friend so badly that Brad called 911. Melody was always thinking up schemes and tricks to play on the kids. She also liked to make homemade birthday cards for the kids. They would have funny pictures and poems on them.

Melody was a generous person. She would do whatever she could to help a friend, neighbor, family member or even a stranger. She was always doing something, for someone. She never missed a birthday. She would always offer to babysit and even dog and cat sit for her friends and neighbors. She got great pleasure helping people and doing things for others.

Melody was a one of a kind person. She was either at red line in 5th gear or at a full stop. She was either all or nothing...perfection or not at all. She was loved dearly by her husband, family and friends. She will be greatly missed by all those who knew her.

She is survived by her husband Darrell Skelton of 29 years; her mother Doylene Bremerman; her sister Kim Wilkowich and husband Randy; her sister Terri Smith and husband Dennis; her sister Christy Rixmann and husband Doug; and her brother Michael Maddox; nieces Brylee, Kimberly, Tulee; and nephews Ricky, Nic, Brad, AJ, Nathan, Zachary, Xavier, Cohen and Jensen.

A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 2:00PM at the Charles W. Smith & Sons Funeral Home at 2925 5th Street, Sachse, Texas, 75048.