Funeral services for Harlia “Jane” Melot, 76, of Norman, Oklahoma, will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, December 11, 2020 at the Wilson-Little Funeral Home Chapel. Services will be under the direction of the Wilson-Little Funeral Home in Purcell.
Mrs. Melot passed away peacefully on December 6, 2020, at the Noble Healthcare Center.
Jane was born August 31, 1944 in Wanette, Oklahoma, one of 10 children of Harold and Celestia (Reynolds) Caskey.She was raised on a farm in Wanette and attended school there graduating with the Tiger’s class of 1962. She was a star basketball player for the Wanette Tiger basketball team starting all four years of high school and actually joined the high school team when she was in the eighth grade.
After graduating from high school, she attended the Norman Business School where she obtained her Associates Degree in Business.
On May 22, 1965, she married Richard Melot and to this union, two children, daughter Lisa and son John were born. They first made their home in Humeston, Iowa, before moving back to Oklahoma. They lived in Owasso and Norman for a few years, before purchasing a farm two miles east of Lexington.
Jane worked as a bank teller for a time and later at a doctor’s office. The family purchased a gas station in Norman and she assisted with the daily books and bank deposits.
Jane’s greatest joy in life was serving her family. She was an outstanding cook and served a four-course dinner every night as well as being a short order cook at a moment’s notice. She was an immaculate house cleaner and every time you entered the house it was not uncommon for the dishwasher, washer, dryer, vacuum cleaner and dust buster to be running simultaneously. People often joked that you could eat off the floors in her house because it was so clean.
Her favorite time of year was the holidays. She cooked the traditional meals, but she made outstanding Christmas candy and deserts. She made enough candy to feed an army. She loved hosting and entertaining family and friends. She always greeted everyone with a smile and served everyone that walked through the door.
She enjoyed traveling and sports. She even coached Lisa’s softball team and attended all of Lisa and John’s sporting events. She went to every OSU sporting event she could attend. She loved to play cards, especially spades and bridge. She hosted a weekly card game at her house with her fellow members of the Bethel Baptist Senior Choir.
Her greatest, most joyful calling in life was to be a grandmother. When Meagan and Zack were born, she beamed with pride and spoiled them like no other. It gave her a new purpose that added years to her life. She was affectionately called “Grandma Jane.”
She loved her brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews. They all worked hard growing up on the family farm in Wanette and she truly loved visiting the family at numerous gatherings and working in a game of spades or two...or maybe 100!
She was the best daughter, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend you could ask for. She had a big heart and was always pleasant to be around. Her spirit was pure gold like no other. Her smile and her laugh will be missed forever by all. We were all truly blessed by God to know her.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Harold and Celestia Caskey and sisters, Sue Dickerson and Patricia Caskey.
Jane is survived by her daughter, Lisa Andrews and husband, Rodney Andrews, of Purcell; son, John Melot of Norman; four sisters, Linda Davis and husband, Steve, of Valdosta, Ga., Kathy Starkey and husband, Kenneth, of Norman, Mary Pitts of Norman and Alice Sweeten and husband, Bill, of Ada; three brothers, Wendell Caskey and wife, Gail, of Lexington, Leon Caskey of Purcell and Billy Bob Caskey and wife, Nila, of Wanette; two grandchildren, Meagan Klein and husband, Justin, of Manhattan, Kan., and Zackery Andrews of Purcell; two great-grandchildren, Bennett and Sutton Klein and a host of other nieces, nephews, family and friends.
Online condolences may be made at wilsonlittle.com.
