Melissa Kay O’Connell

October 5, 1941 – March 3, 2021

Sadly, Melissa passed on March 3. She will be dearly missed.

Melissa was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and lived in Montana and Oregon for her childhood. She married Dave O’Connell June 11, 1959, and lived in Bakersfield, California, until 1966. They then moved to Othello Washington, where they owned a machine shop for eight years with Dave’s brother and father. They then bought and moved to a farm five miles south of Othello, and lived there until the present time.

Dave and Melissa have three sons, Don, Dennis and Dwayne; three grandsons, Sean, Jacob and Adam; and one great-grandson, Carter.

Melissa loved her work. She was a professional bookkeeper, and did that work for many businesses for over 30 years, such as for Para Feedlot, Lawrence Oil, Rasmussen Repair, Progene and O’Connell Machine Shop. She also drove the rock tractor while the family picked rocks.

Melissa lived a full and varied life. As a kid, she loved swimming. She taught all her boys to swim at the Othello pool. She played softball during her 20s and 30s, was a fast runner and played second base. She bowled on many teams over the years, although did not quite achieve a perfect game. She loved playing craps, slot machines, keno and family poker.

She had several pets over the years: two dogs, lots of cats and a peacock. They raised a pig who tasted delicious and lots of chickens, giving farm fresh eggs for years.

Melissa and Dave have done lots of traveling. They visited the pyramids in Egypt, rode a camel and visited the Aswan Dam, Alexandria, Amsterdam and Anne Frank’s house. They traveled the U.S. by car, plane and RV, seeing about half the states. Her favorite places were Vegas, the Grand Canyon and Bangor, Maine. They visited Plymouth Rock and boarded the Mayflower. She liked watching the birds eat just outside of her kitchen window.

Melissa and Dave had some dear friends such as June and Hobart Roberts, Chris and Kurt Braunwart, and many others. She has two cousins, Larry and Karen Schute, the Oregonians.

Please express your thoughts and memories at www.kayserschapel.com. Arrangements are under the care of Kayser’s Chapel of Memories of Moses Lake, Washington.