Born March 27, 1924 Mesquite, Nevada #13 of “The Original 13”

The number 13 has not been unlucky for Aunt Melie. Having 12 older brothers and sisters had its advantages. We’ve all heard the stories about how each child had certain chores that had to be done on the farm or in the home. Those were the rules. But as we all know, rules are made to be broken. And Grandpa Hughes broke the rules for Aunt Melie. After all, she was the baby! If any of the older children, or even Grandma asked her to do some small task, she would always run to her daddy and say, “I’se too ‘ittle to do that, huh Papa?”

Following in the footsteps of her older brothers and sisters, Aunt Melie attended school in Mesquite, Nevada, and graduated from Virgin Valley High School in 1943. She loved horses and was quite proficient at riding. Did you know she was a Las Vegas Helldorado Rodeo Queen? Not only could she ride horses, she was (and still is) a beauty, too!

After graduation, Aunt Melie was employed as a cashier for J. L. Bowler in his grocery store in Mesquite. She worked there for about seven years before moving to Henderson, Nevada. There she continued as a retail cashier for Prime Meats, which eventually was purchased by Vegas Village in Las Vegas. I remember as a child, going to Vegas Village every week with my mom (Vida), and usually Aunt Amanda, too, for groceries and going through Aunt Melie’s check-out stand. It was obvious that she was very well thought of by her co-workers and management. Because of her exceptional reputation, just the mere fact that mom and Aunt ‘Manda were her sisters, we were always greeted with warmth and hospitality. I think Vegas Village was in those days what the Super Wal-Marts are today. I know Del Rae and I always thought it was so cool that Aunt Melie worked there…it gave us a sort of above-the-ordinary folks feeling each time we went there.

Aunt Melie commuted from Henderson to Las Vegas for a number of years, (and it wasn’t so easy as it is today!) But she did it in style…she bought herself a Volkswagen Beetle. She wheeled that Bug back and forth for a lot of years. To this day I always think of Aunt Melie when I see a VW Bug. (I wonder if that’s the reason I love my Bug so much today?) I believe the main reason she chose to live in Henderson was due to her strong relationship with the Williams Family. Clara Williams and Aunt Melie have been life-long friends since they were young girls, and Clara and her family have been an integral part of Aunt Melie’s life. They remain wonderful friends today.

Eventually though, Aunt Melie bought a trailer home closer to her job. It was pink. It was so cute! If you’ll look the next time you’re at Strawberry Mountain for the Family Reunion, you’ll be able to see it for yourselves…she and mom try to spend as much time as possible every summer in that same pink trailer!

Although Aunt Melie was never a “birth mother,” she certainly has been a wonderful mother to so many nieces and nephews! How many of us remember summers spent in Pine Valley? Aunt Melie had a motor bike…once again, the cool Aunt! I will never forget the terrifying afternoon when the old pump-up style Coleman lantern exploded in her hands. Family members rushed her to St. George to the hospital, leaving all the nieces and nephews crying and praying for her well being and quick recovery.

In June of 1977, once again we all cried and prayed for Aunt Melie. She was diagnosed with breast cancer, and things seemed so bleak as she under went surgery and the extensive treatments afterward. But not the mastectomy, nor the chemotherapy, nor the radiation could take the spark out of Aunt Melie. She beat cancer…she is a survivor. She may look fragile and delicate, but don’t you believe it!

My family has been especially fortunate by having Aunt Melie in our personal day-to-day lives for many years. She is a second mom to us all. I can’t think of one mom without thinking of the other. That’s the way it’s been in our family for many years now. Even my little grandkids know that mom and Aunt Melie are a team…several years ago during the Christmas holidays at my house in Louisiana, I asked my grandson, Robby, then 3 years old, where Great Grandma was. He thought for a minute and then said, “Well, one of the grandmas just went upstairs.”

When dad died in1986, Aunt Melie left her cozy pink trailer home and moved right in with mom and they have been together ever since. She has been such a central part of our immediate family, and we feel exceptionally blessed to have her as our Special Aunt, and our friend.