Melissa Renee Blair
Melissa Renee Blair was born April 29, 1961 to Donald and Pandora Woodford in El Segundo, California and lived there for a time. From there, her father moved the family to Maui, where Melissa finished high school at Lahaina Luna High School, Maui, Hawaii. After graduating, she began her journey back across the ocean to Virginia where she attended Bluefield College in Bluefield, Virginia.
She eventually moved over to Norfolk, Virginia, where upon visiting her sister in Wake Forest, North Carolina, she met Steven Blair. She stayed on in Wake Forest, eventually marrying Steven as he finished seminary and they made a home there in the area for some 30 years.
Melissa worked for some 20 years with the Sheraton hotel chain, as well as 15 years with the Salvation Army & Boys and Girls Club in the Raleigh, North Carolina area. She was forced into early retirement due to her eyesight and diabetic issues. Melissa continued to be constantly working and involved for some 15 years with Steven working in therapeutic foster care.
Eventually, Steven and Melissa moved out to Missouri where she finally passed away March 11, 2021 to meet her Lord.
She was preceded in death by her father, Donald S. Woodford, her mother, Pandora Barton Woodford and brother in law, Clifford Dent.
She is survived by her husband, R. Steven Blair, and her sister-in-law, Linda Blair Christian, mother in law, E. Jean Blair. Also survived by sister, Paula Woodford Dent, her niece, Heather Moore, Heather’s children: Kaitlin Chaney, Monica Moore, and Jack Moore, her great nephew Landon Chaney, and great niece, Lily Chaney, and countless friends and neighbors around the country.
Celebration services will be at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, March 20, 2021 at Born Again Church.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made on her behalf to the Breast Cancer Foundation/Susan G. Komen Foundation, and the American Diabetes Association.