Melissa Emily Cole SMITH

HUGHES, SMITH, KREITLOW, SHEY, MCMAHON, MERTZ, COLE

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/25/2007 at 09:30:13

Melissa Emily Cole Smith, 35, died in a house fire Wednesday, August 22, 2007. Visitation will be held from 6- 8p.m. Thursday, September 27, 2007 at Gunderson Funeral Home & Cremation Services. Memorial services will be held at a later date in Storm Lake with a private burial in the Vernon Township Cemetery in rural Dows, Iowa.

Melissa was born July 17, 1972, the daughter of Joyce (Kreitlow) Hughes of Fonda, Iowa. Melissa graduated from Clarion Goldfield High School where her talents were beginning to surface. She did many beautiful cross stitch items; some of which made their way to an orphanage in Mexico. She created jewelry from rocks and at one time in her life she really enjoyed canning which she learned on her own. Many loved her mustard, pickled zucchini and her zucchini bread. Melissa also loved to read such authors as Stephen King (and other science fiction) as well as her sister, Thera Shey’s writings, which she helped with in different capacities. She also loved reading about ancient times and things pertaining to castles. She had many books, loved cook books or informative, learning books. Melissa also used a creative art system to make pictured cards using computer graphic designs which she gave to special Internet friends she’d never actually met, yet was a counseling friend to. Melissa had a great love for cats. In her short life, she cared for many. They were her family. Her best friend was her sister, Thera Shey. Melissa, Thera Shey and Thera Shey’s family did many family activities together. Even with Thera Shey’s in-law family. Other than that, Melissa stayed to herself.

Melissa leaves behind her mother Joyce Hughes, her sister Thera Shey McMahon (Scott) of Ft. Dodge (Coalville), her brother Steven Eugene Mertz II of San Angelo, TX; her nieces Ica, Lilly, Skye and nephew Landon McMahon, all of Ft. Dodge (Coalville); her maternal grandma, Emily Kreitlow of White, SD; many aunts, uncles and cousins and other relatives; and many friends who loved her and will miss her. She was preceded in death by her grandpa Ivan Kreitlow.

Fort Dodge Messenger
September 24, 2007

A sister’s grief

Family of Aug. 22 fire victim is still waiting for official IDBy JOHN MOLSEED, Messenger staff writer
-Messenger photo by John Molseed

Thera Shey-McMahon sits with a photograph of her and her sister, Melissa Smith. Shey-McMahon says her sister died at home in a Coalville fire, but the state medical examiner’s office hasn’t positively identified her sister’s remains. She said waiting a month to memorialize her sister has been hard on her and her family.
Thera Shey McMahon says she knows her sister is dead. She doesn’t need the Office of the Iowa State Medical Examiner to tell her.

McMahon says her sister, Melissa Smith, 35, was at home early Aug. 22 when a neighbor saw flames and smoke coming from the trailer. Neighbors, friends, and McMahon’s husband fought the heat to try to get close enough to get Smith out, but the fire was too intense. McMahon still remembers how she felt when her husband told her at 4:30 a.m. that her sister hadn’t made it out.

‘‘It felt like a punch in the gut,’’ said McMahon.
Firefighters found a woman’s body inside the trailer at 2460 Nelson Ave., Lot 51. The remains were sent to the state medical examiner’s lab in Ankeny for identification. But a month later McMahon and her family are still waiting to memorialize Smith because her remains are yet to be identified. McMahon has contacted the medical examiner’s office every week since the fire to ask when she would be able to get her sister’s remains. Thursday morning, an official there said it would be early next week. That was the same answer she got last week, she said. And the week before. ‘‘I don’t believe them,’’ she said. ‘‘Every time, I get the same feeling like I’m punched in the gut. That’s what it feels like.’’ McMahon said it’s hard to go on without her sister in her life, not having had a chance to say goodbye. ‘‘We used to do everything together,’’ she said. ‘‘Now it’s hard even getting into my van knowing that the seat next to me is empty.’’

Dr. Dan Cole, Webster County medical examiner, said he isn’t sure why identifying the body has taken so long. He had items to use for DNA identification driven to Ankeny the day after the fire, which he thought would speed up the process, he said. DNA testing is done at the state Division of Criminal Investigation lab. He said staff there may be busy with crime-related work.

‘‘The DCI lab is not very fast,’’ he said, adding that he and officials are ‘‘99 percent’’ certain that the body is Smith. ‘‘We need to live our lives too,’’ said McMahon. ‘‘Unfortunately, we have to live the rest of our lives without my sister. But I have four children. I have a life. I need to be able to move on.’’

Smith and McMahon’s mother, Joyce Hughes, of Fonda, said she hopes that what her family is going through prompts change. ‘‘We know what this feels like,’’ Hughes said. ‘‘We don’t want anybody to have to feel this way.’’ ‘‘No one should go through this,’’ said McMahon.

For more than a month, McMahon was sure she was going to bury her sister the next week. She said that even if she had been told it would take more than a month, she would have rather known from the beginning. ‘‘If they’re backed up, they’re backed up. I would understand. But why can’t they just say that? I’d understand,’’ she said. ‘‘I don’t know what the answer is to solve this, but somebody needs to look into it.’’

McMahon described Smith as a creative, helpful person who was quick to laugh. ‘‘I’ll always remember how she laughed,’’ said Hughes. Smith formed an Internet support group for people battling depression, McMahon said. She used to take McMahon’s kids trick-or-treating each year. Neighbors remember her as friendly and someone everyone got along with. McMahon hopes friends and family have a chance to get together to share those memories at a memorial — soon.

Contact John Molseed at (515) 573-2141 or jmolseed@messengernews.net

Copyright, Fort Dodge Messenger
9/21/2007

Fire victim’s remains identified — at last

Woman now plans memorial for her sister: ‘I finally got her back’By JOHN MOLSEED, Messenger staff writer

After a month of waiting, the family of a woman killed in a fire can bury her and hold a memorial.
The Iowa State Medical Examiner’s office officially identified the remains found in an Aug. 22 fire in Coalville as those of Melissa Smith, 35. Firefighters found Smith’s body in her burning trailer at 24260 Nelson Ave., Lot 51 when they were called to the scene at about 4:30 a.m. Her body was sent to the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s office in Ankeny for identification. After almost a month of waiting, family members voiced frustration over the delay. ‘‘No one should go through this,’’ Smith’s sister, Thera Shey McMahon, said Thursday. On Friday, McMahon learned that officials at the office had positively identified Smith and were releasing her body back to the family. “To hear that we were going to get her back and that the agony of waiting is going to end, I wanted to laugh, scream or cry all at once,” said McMahon. “I finally got her back.”

McMahon said her sister was identified using dental records she sent to the Medical Examiner’s office last week. Officials at the Medical Examiner’s office were trying to identify Smith’s remains using DNA. McMahon said that she understands that the process would take some time, but said waiting a month has made it difficult for her family to move on. “I wasn’t expecting to hear back overnight,” she said. “I certainly wasn’t expecting a month, though.” “We’re not blaming anybody,” she said. “Somebody important needs to listen and pay attention that (the Medical Examiner’s office) need(s) help. It’s agony waiting like that.”

Smith’s body was returned Friday through Gunderson Funeral Home & Cremation Services. McMahon said she hopes the family can hold a memorial for her sister next week.

Contact John Molseed at (515) 573-2141 or jmolseed@messengernews.net

Copyright, The Fort Dodge Messenger
9/22/2007