LENA OGDEN MELODY (NOVEMBER 23, 1892-SEPTEMBER 1929)
THE SAD NEWS OF THE DEATH OF MRS. LENA OGDEN MELOY WAS RECEIVED LAST THURSDAY EVENING IN A TELEGRAM TO HER AUNT, MRS. HANNAH SLENTZ, AND ALL WHO WERE PRIVILEGED TO SHARE THE FRIENDSHIP OF THIS RARE CHRISTAIN CHARACTER WERE FILLED WITH INEXPRESSIBLE SADNESS.
HER LIFE CAME TO ITS TRIUMPHANT END AT THE HOME IN BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA. SHE DIED AS A SACRIFICE TO MOTHERHOOD IN THE INEXPLICABLE MYSTERY OF MATERNITY. THE TELEGRAM READ: “BABY WILBUR ROBERT ARRIVED SAFELY THIS MORNING, BUT LENA PASSED AWAY AT 12:30.”SUCH IS THE SAD AND TRAGIC ENDING OF A BEAUTIFUL LIFE-A LIFE FILLED WITH ALL THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES. IT IS INDEED DIFFICULT TO CONTEMPLATE AND REASON OUT THE DEATH OF ONE SO NEEDED IN HER HOME AND THE CHURCH SHE LOVED TO SERVE, BUT THE TENDER MEMORIES CLUSTERING AROUND HER USEFUL LIFE WILL OFFER SOME SLIGHT CONSOLATION TO ACHING HEARTS.
MRS. MELOY WAS THE ONLY CHILD OF GEORGE E. AND ETTA WILLIAMS OGDEN. SHE WAS BORN IN MOUNT AYR, NOVEMBER 23, 1892, BEING 36 YEARS, NINE MONTHS AND 26 DAYS OLD ON THE DAY OF HER DEATH. SHE GREW TO WOMANHOOD IN THIS CITY AND WAS LOVED BY ALL WHO KNEW HER. SHE JOINED THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN EARLY YOUTH AND WAS ALWAYS ACTIVE IN CHURCH WORK, BEING A TEACHER IN THE BIBLE SCHOOL, A LEADER IN IT’S YOUNG PEOPLE’S WORK AND CHURCH PIANIST FOR SEVERAL YEARS. SHE GRADUATED FROM THE MOUNT AYR HIGH SCHOOL IN 1911, STANDING FIRST IN HER CLASS. THE NEXT FALL SHE ENTERED MONMOUTH COLLEGE, GRADUATED FROM THAT INSTITUTION IN 1915. WHILE IN COLLEGE SHE WAS A MEMBER OF THE Y.W.C.A. CABINET, AND PROMINENT IN HER LITERARY SOCIETY, BEING CHOSEN DEBATER IN 1912. AFTER HER GRADUATION AT COLLEGE, ONE SUMMER WAS SPENT IN ADVANCED WORK IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO IN FURTHER PREPARATION FOR THE TEACHING PROFESSION. SHE THEN TAUGHT IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF MARSHALLTOWN FOR ONE YEAR AND RESIGNED HER POSITION TO BECOME INSTRUCTOR IN THE MOUNT AYR HIGH SCHOOL. THIS CHANGE WAS MADE TO ENABLE HER TO BE AT HOME WITH HER PARENTS, WHICH THEY SO EARNESTLY DESIRED. HER WORK AS A TEACHER IN OUR SCHOOLS DURING THE YEARS FROM 1916-1920 WAS OUTSTANDING IN EVERY RESPECT, AND HER STUDENTS ALL HONOR AND REVERE HER MEMORY.
