Judy Melson

Judith “Judy” Gail Melson passed away February 22, 2011, at Integris Seminole Medical Center in Seminole, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Judy was born in Bristow, Oklahoma on October 11, 1933. She attended Ada and Byng Public Schools, (as well as schools in Norfolk, Va. and Orange, Calif. during World War II), before returning to Oklahoma and finishing high school at Byng.  She then attended two years at East Central University before marrying and beginning a family.  She had four children, Spencer Leddy, Tracy (Leddy) Walls, Bruce Leddy, and Scott Alan Leddy.   Judy was also blessed with four grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.  She later worked in several capacities at Byng High School.  She became an accomplished legal secretary and assistant in two law offices in Ada.  During this time, she met Gordon Melson, then District Attorney, and they married in August 1971 in Oklahoma City.   She was Office Manager for Gordon’s Law Office in Ada in 1975-1978.  Judy and Gordon moved to Seminole in early 1980, after Gordon was appointed District Judge for the 22nd Judicial District.  She worked for several years in the Office of Moran Oil Enterprises, but in 1986 she purchased and managed the Ada Travel Service, Inc., in Ada until she sold it to Pre-Paid Legal Services in 2000, when she retired.  As a young girl, Judy was an active member of the Ada Round-Up Club and the Rainbow Girls.  She was a President of Ada League of Women Voters, a Chair of the 5th District Oklahoma Federation of Democratic Women, and received recognition by the Oklahoma Democratic Woman’s Hall of Fame.  A highlight of her recent past was meeting and conversing with then candidate and later President Barack Obama, and attending the festivities at his inauguration in Washington, D.C.   Her photos with President Obama and then U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton adorned her walls.  Judy was preceded in death by her parents, Don and Finnis Holt, as well as her youngest son, Scott, and her younger sister, Linda Long.  She is survived by her husband, Gordon Melson; her sister, Donna O’Neal and her husband, Glen, of Sulphur, Ok.; one daughter, Tracy Walls and her husband, Jim of Yukon, Ok; her son, Spencer Leddy and his wife, Donna, of Ada, Ok; her son, Bruce Leddy, of Seminole, Ok; and her stepson, John Melson and his wife, Gracie, of Ada, Ok.  She is also survived by four grandchildren, Michael Leddy, Laura Ford, Travis Leddy, and Rusty Walls, and six great-children. Judy is a long time member of the First United Methodist Church in Seminole where funeral services are scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Monday, February 28th at the First United Methodist at 910 Wrangler Blvd. (Hwy #9 West), with the Rev. Gary Wilburn officiating.  Burial and a Graveside Service will follow at Swan Hill Cemetery located at 12481 Hwy. 19, Ada, Ok., at 12:30 p.m.  Funeral Services are under the direction of the Swearingen Funeral Home of Seminole, e-mail:  [email protected] Pallbearers are:  James Brown, Dean Estes, Ryan Kiesel, Jack Mattingly, Sr., Melvin Moran, and Mike Murray.  Honorary bearers will be members of the Stepping Stones Sunday School Class at the First United Methodist Church and Members of the State and Local Bar Associations. In lieu of flowers, you may make a memorial donation to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 22718, Oklahoma City, Ok. 73123-1718 or the Seminole Humane Society, P.O. Box 88, Seminole, Ok. 74818-0088. Funeral Information: February 28, 2011, 10:00 AM First United Methodist Church located at 910 Wrangler Blvd., Seminole, OK 74868