YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (MyValleyTributes) – Melinda Marlene Wilding, 54, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, passed away on Friday, January 20, 2023, after a battle with cancer.

She was born January 27, 1968, in Youngstown, Ohio, to Raymond and Sandra Leet Wilding.

She graduated from Hubbard High School in 1986 and from Youngstown State University, where she majored in philosophy. She went on to complete a Master’s Degree in Biomedical Ethics from Case Western Reserve University and earned a doctorate at Loyola University.

Melinda spent many years teaching hundreds of students in Colorado, Texas, Santa Fe and online.

She loved philosophy and ethics and was always in-search to gain the meaning of this world. She expected a lot from her students because she saw their potential. After her passing, many students reached out to say how much she had impacted their lives.

She enjoyed hiking and skiing in Colorado and found peace in nature. She loved her dogs, Huey and Dune, flowers, her garden and the birds that ate at her feeders.

She leaves her father, Raymond (Diane) Wilding; her sister, Susan (Shane) Hawkins-Wilding; her niece and nephew, Tess and Harrison Hawkins-Wilding; uncle, Carl (Donna) Leet; stepsisters, Eleanor Dutton and Elaine Libb; stepbrother, Joseph (Diane) Tuchek and her uncle, Harry Grant.

Preceding her in death were her mother, Sandra; uncle, Robert Leet; aunt, Joan Grant; uncles, Robert and William Wilding; grandparents, Wilma and Carl Leet, Verna and Andrew Miglets and several cousins.

Melinda was interred in the niche with her mother at Lake Park Cemetery.

Arrangements handled by Stewart-Kyle Funeral Home. Family and friends are invited to visit the funeral home’s website at stewart-kyle.com to share memories and condolences.

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