Melodie Clements

Melodie Clements, 60, of Metea, transitioned peacefully at 10:50 PM on Wednesday, September 22, 2021, with her loved ones at her side, following a three-year metastatic breast cancer fiesta.

Born on December 19, 1960, to Victor Jr. and Karen (Hildebrand) Clements, Melodie was a 1979 graduate of Caston High School, and graduated in 2010 from Ivy Tech with an associates degree in Criminal Justice.

Melodie learned early in life that she loved to sing and perform on stage. She participated in school productions and began a lifelong association with the Civic Players of Logansport, appearing in countless productions, including Sweet Charity, Frankenstein, both presentations of Jesus Christ Superstar, and Big City. She made it a family affair, appearing alongside her children in many productions.

A lover of all life great, small, creepy, and crawly, many, many stray animals found their way to her door for food and love. She was a crazy cat lady long before there was an official term for it, and leaves behind her current brood of Tucker, Lizzy, Louis, LeStat, Sissy, Wakanda, Pippa, Pookie and 4 tinies.

Melodie began a career in radio in 1992 at WMRS in Monticello and over the years, hosted shows on Hoosier 103.7, she was also the toucan mascot; Hoosier Country, Mix 102, WGLM in West Lafayette; WAZY in Lafayette; and WARU in Peru. She broadcasted under the names of Samantha Starr and Kimberly Michaels. One of her fondest gigs was working with her buddy Cap’n Crunch; at every opportunity; Captain Stubby once told Crunch that she was an excellent “second banana”.

Needing a more stable environment for her children than being a radio gypsy could provide, she purchased Samuel Mancino’s Italian Eatery in 2001, owning and operating the business until 2004.

Over the years, she had also worked for Judy’s Goodlife Emporium, Berkshire Communications, as a substitute teacher with the Caston and Logansport School Systems, and many local restaurants.  Her last position before the cancer party took over was as an office secretary for the Cass County Highway Department.

Surviving loved ones include her mother, Karen of Metea; the loves of her life and stars of her show, her children; Michael Slusser, wife Leil and granddaughter Elinor of Evansville; Kimberly Wainscott and her husband Josh of Albuquerque, N.M.; and Daniel Clements of Muncie. Also surviving are her beloved brother and sister-in-law, Victor III and Tracy (Cochran) Clements of Metea; nieces and nephews, Lucy (Jeff), David (Wendie), Rik (Frost), Joshua (Amanda), Sarah (Tanner), Victor IV and Lukas. Special friends, Craig and Teresa Slusser; honorary big sister, Libby Zehner Binney; Jonie (Kelley) Colvin and her husband Russ; best friend for life Tym Moss; good friends, Tanya Berg and Sabrina Lynn; her cancer center support angels; her beloved adopted family from the Bungalow who gave her such joy; many great nieces and nephews.

Loved ones who preceded Melodie in transition were her best buddy, dad, Victor Clements Jr; her “other half”, aunt Norma (Clements) Musselman; uncle Raymond “Doc” Clements; Aunt Roxanna (Clements) Milo; maternal grandmother, Genevieve Bernice (Hildebrand) Waldsmith; paternal grandparents, Victor and Ethel (Heater) Clements; cousins, Dick and Sandy (Hershberger) Kelley; Leon “Bud” Hershberger and Bradley Kelley.

“There is no death! What seems so is transition; this life of mortal breath is but a suburb of the life elysian, whose portal we call death.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Although there will be no formal services, family and friends are invited to visit at Gundrum Funeral Home for traditional reminiscences on Saturday, September 25, 2021, from 2:00 – 4:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, Melodie would like donations made to the animal shelter of your choice, the Global Sanctuary for Elephants (globalsanctuaryforelephants.org) or Turtle Mountain Animal Rescue (turtlemountainanimalrescue.org).