Melva Tremaine

(From Hutchinson Funeral Home)

Melva Dean Tremaine, 81, of Sterling, Kansas, peacefully crossed over to her eternal home on Sunday, July 28, 2024. Melva was born January 29, 1943, in Stigler, Oklahoma. She was the seventh child of eight born to Doctor Franklin and Dorothy Ash Dover Watley. 

Melva attended York College, York, Nebraska in the fall of 1961, where she met the love of her life, Ronald Walter Tremaine. Ron and Melva were married on August 26, 1962, and enjoyed just shy of 62 years together.

Melva earned her bachelor's degree in health information management from St. Scholastica University in Duluth, Minnesota. She spent her professional career in medical records coding and administration, retiring in 2012.

She enjoyed knitting and crocheting, watching birds and the squirrels outside her dining room window, and spending time with her family. She was especially known for her "Melva Blankets" that have been used to swaddle more babies than we know! Melva was a lifelong member of the Church of Christ, most recently worshipping with the Sterling Church of Christ.

Melva is survived by her husband, Ron (Sterling, KS), brother Jerry Watley (Cassville, MO), son Mark and his wife Bonnie (Nickerson, KS), son Eric and his wife Jenny (York, NE), daughter Kari and her husband Dave Savage (Webb City, MO), foster daughter Betty and her husband Bob Reitz (Trenton, MO), fourteen grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Melva was preceded in death by her parents, her daughter Julie, brothers Norman Watley, Orlin Watley, and Dale Watley, her sisters Joyce Eubanks, Shirley Gault and Velma Wiltfong.