ESTEVAN — "One of a kind," "amazing," "kickass" and "ambassador for the city of Estevan". These are among the words and descriptions being used to describe Melodye Pierson, who died suddenly on Dec. 9 at her home in Estevan at the age of 76.
Throughout her life, one way or another, Melodye seemingly affected and influenced every person in Estevan, and hundreds of accolades flooded community pages in the days after her passing, as people were saying goodbye to one of its greatest citizens.
Melodye was remembered as a "wonderful", "very special", "upbeat", "kind and caring", "extraordinary" and "generous" person, as a "ray of sunshine", "a great lady with a heart of gold" and "a powerful soul".
Born in Estevan in 1946, Melodye always loved and cared for the community, but didn't always live here. She received a secretarial degree, met her husband Bert and for 11 years they lived in Winnipeg, before coming back to Estevan and joining her family in their businesses, the Beefeater.
Once they came back, Estevan became their one and only community.
Since 1976, Melodye has been paramount in helping the family business grow from a small hotel and restaurant to the highly-successful business it has been for decades. She was a partner in the family Beefeater Motor Inn (now the Days Inn). She was also a part owner of the Sport Xtreme store along with her son Brad.
In 2002, Melodye was recognized with the Ida Petterson Memorial Award for Outstanding Female Entrepreneur at the SaskPower/Quota International Women of Today Awards.
And she was a mainstay in all aspects of the business.
Her sons Jeff and Brad said they were touched by the outpouring of support from the community. They learned so much from her, from how to be a good person to the importance of giving back to the community through volunteering, from the value of having a positive attitude to the need for a good work ethic.
"Because she had cancer so long ago, she reached out to so many people that maybe just had a cancer diagnosis. She just went that extra mile all the time, welcoming people to the community, supporting the community," said Brad.
She learned about the value of good customer service from her parents, George and Dorothy Symons.
"She was everything about someone's experience in her business," said Brad.
The brothers had many conversations over the years about all that their mother has done, but she never did it to get attention or to draw attention to herself.
"When she did get recognition, she was humbled by it," said Jeff. "I'm so thankful that some of those things happened because she just deserved to be honoured."
After Bert died in 2019, she started Act 2, a support group for widows in the community.
"People that she didn't know before then are just so thankful she was there to step up when they had lost their husband, or maybe they had lost their husband 10 years ago," said Brad. "That, to me, was one of her biggest accomplishments."
Volunteering has always been a big part of Melodye's life. When the kids were small, she partook in projects pertaining to them. She was involved with the Estevan Bruins since their inception in 1957. In 1979, the Piersons opened their home to out-of-town players as billet parents. Melodye remained a billet after Bert passed away and became the longest-serving billet parent with the Bruins' organization.
Melodye's family along with other volunteers and businesses also put all their efforts together to make the Estevan Motor Speedway happen. The Souris Valley Theatre and Creighton Lodge were some other involvements. She was also a big supporter of the Community Hamper Association, the United Way Estevan and the St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation, among others.
In March 2021, the Mercury featured her in our Women of Estevan special. In the interview, she said the balance between work, family and many volunteer jobs wasn't necessarily easy to maintain, but she had to make it work, as every project she was involved with enriched her life, and also was important for the community.
It's probably impossible to count how many projects, campaigns and organizations she had volunteered for, as it's always been just a natural part of life and she worked with what came up, thus showing her love for her hometown in the most genuine way. And the community loved her back.
"She truly was one of a kind. Such a humble, kind and caring human. She did things for so many people and organizations from her heart. She will be missed by so many people," Sheila McGillicky wrote on Facebook.
"Mel was definitely one of the kindest, most giving people that I know. What a loss for the Estevan community," Gail Taillon said in her post.
"She was truly an ambassador for the City of Estevan with her volunteer support of everything from the Bruins to fundraisers to the hospital. You name it, Mel was involved," Mary-Lou Rosengren shared on Facebook.
"She was such a prominent figure in our community and such a supporter of the people within," Arlene Lafrentz wrote.
"My kids have always called Blackbeard's 'the restaurant castle', and they considered her the queen. It really does feel like we've lost a piece of royalty today," Jamie Guertin shared.
In November, she was recognized with the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for her years of volunteering in and for the community.
A come-and-go public visitation took place on Dec. 14 at Hall Funeral Services in Estevan and the celebration of Melodye's life was held on the following day at Trinity Lutheran Church in Estevan.
Melodye's family asked anyone wishing to donate in her memory, to do so to the Estevan Community Hamper Association and the Angel Tree.
"We are saddened and heartbroken at the loss of our greatest champion and our biggest supporter Melodye Pierson," the Estevan Community Hamper Association and Angel Tree said on Facebook after her death. "We will forever remember her words of wisdom, her never-ending flow of ideas, her kick-ass attitude and her occasional dropping of the f-bomb at the most appropriate times."
