Melanie M. Bloodgood (1943-2023)
Dr. Melanie Ruth May was born April 23, 1943, to Ralph James May and Dorothy Champlin May, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She and her older brother and sister, Ralph James Jr., and Janice were raised in Oklahoma City, where Melanie graduated from high school in 1961. Her father was an attorney and her mother was a teacher.
Melanie attended Oklahoma State University and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. She earned a Bachelor's degree in English, and soon thereafter married Dean Bloodgood, who taught in the Art Department. In 1965, Melanie and Dean bought a home east of Stillwater, planting several hundred pine seedlings on the 3 three acre property. In 1967, they had a son, Forest Lee Bloodgood, born in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Grant Freeman Bloodgood was born in 1970.
Melanie raised her sons while earning her Master's Degree in English in 1975, as well as a Minor in Religion/Philosophy. Melanie had a close-knit circle of friends that were fellow teachers, and students at OSU. She and Dean bought an 80 acre unimproved parcel that was heavily wooded and had a large pond, on which they swam, fished, cut firewood, and hosted gatherings for friends. In winter, it served as an ice rink as Melanie wore her mother's passed down skates.
Melanie was an excellent cook, inspired by exotic foods which reflected the diverse community around the university. While President of the NOW chapter, working toward her Doctorate, she cooked for Caravan Bookstore, as her sons attended public school in Stillwater. Following her divorce, Melanie moved to Louisiana with Grant, teaching at LSU.
She took a job back in Oklahoma teaching at OSSM, a high school for gifted students. She loved teaching throughout her life and fostered liberal arts and humanities to countless young people.
In 1996, Melanie moved to Portland, Oregon where she had a Grand-daughter, Surreal, from her son, Forest. In her dozen years in Portland, she gained two more granddaughters, Isis and Mesa. They frequently went on family adventures to the coast, the aquarium, museums, and had perpetual feasts from the ever enthusiast Melanie. Her bread making venture, Flour Power, was the result of decades of experience, delivering her organic whole grain bread to grocery stores.
Melanie's interest in books, philosophy, conspiracy theory, music, film and art, never abated. She moved to Houston, Texas, to be near her brother and sister, all living in The Woodlands community. Grant visited her often from Florida. After a decline in health, Melanie lived in assisted living, and hospice, until she passed away on August 14, 2023. She is survived by her sister, Jan, her sons Forest and Grant, and her granddaughters.
----FLB,
Dec. 2023
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