Melanie was born at Fort Ord Army Post in California on March 23, 1962, to Howard Elwood Otteson and Dorothy Petersen Otteson. She entered this world as a welcome beautiful baby girl amongst three active brothers - Randy, Kevin, and Scott. Her inherent sweetness inspired Dorothy to nickname her ‘Sugar Babe’ - a moniker she used throughout Melanie’s life. Melanie’s enduring strength was forged by a necessity to hold her three roughhousing brothers at bay. She loved skiing the glassy waters and year-round snow of Oregon, as well as eating melted Velveeta cheese by the spoonful. The shared bedroom she decorated with her sister Valene was a vibrant clash of pinks, greens, and blues accenting yellow beds atop a neon pink carpet, all somehow made to work together in a way only Mel could accomplish. As a teenager, Dorothy encouraged her to become a vocalist, but her Farah Fawcett-style hairdo was better suited to modeling school, where she excelled and earned money far in excess of that imaginable by her peers working in ice-cream parlors and fast-food restaurants.
Melanie’s lifelong love for learning carried her from Sunset High School to BYU, where she studied humanities and accrued lifelong friends. She married Mitch Edwards in 1981, later divorcing but remaining a wonderful coparent to their three children, Chelsea, Nicholas, and Cameron. In a life full of achievements, Melanie considered her children her greatest.
In 2006, Melanie and Steve brought their five shared children on an unforgettable trip to Europe, culminating in their marriage amongst the picturesque lavender fields of Southern France. Melanie’s stepsons, Jordan and Justin, remain forever grateful of Melanie’s warm embrace of them as her own.
Melanie and Steve’s time together saw them swimming through the crystal waters of Hawaii, biking the undulant roads of Vermont in fall bloom, and exploring their home mountains of Park City - Steve often outpaced and in tow, but hand in hand and deeply in love, nevertheless.
Through it all, Steve’s deepest appreciation of Mel was found in simple observance of her guiding light, full heart, passionate friendships, love of bathes, and her ability to transform any space or outfit into a thing of wonder with her effortless beauty.
Beyond being the greatest wife, sister, daughter, friend, and curator of hats this world has ever known, Melanie was a teacher, healer, creator, and visionary of unmatched resolve. Through her example, we learned to love unconditionally in a world all to ready to place our unique characters in a box. A healer by nature, she possessed an innate mindfulness and emotional intelligence that found her helping us all, even in her own times of need. She shared this passion with the world through her chocolate company as the Leafy Mama, imbuing every bar with her entrepreneurial spirit, zest for color, and rich family tradition of chocolate making. There is no doubt that Christmas time memories of chocolate making with Dorothy, Chelsea, Valene, and their daughters are baked into every bite as her chocolates make their way to the shelves of Whole Foods and other name-brand retailers from Utah to Oregon and beyond.
To know Melanie was to love her, and to understand her irreplaceable ability to light up any room. We will all strive to honor her incredible spirit, love every day and celebrate the great gifts that she brought to this world.
Rather than a traditional service, we will be holding an “open house” for Mel at Le Jardin’s Chateau at Larkin Sunset Gardens, where her friends and family can mingle and share memories.
When: Friday, October 15, 2021, 6:30-8:30pm
Where: Larkin Sunset Gardens/Le Jardin, 1950 E 10600 S, Sandy, UT 84092
A separate “Celebration of Life” will be held in the spring in Park City.
We encourage guests to dress as colorfully as they wish to reflect Melanie’s bright personality, love of color, and sunny outlook on life.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The American Cancer Society:
Our sincere condolences on the passing of Melanie, a beautiful person with an exceptional spirit.
We will always remember her sitting on her front porch wrapped in a blanket in the early morning hours.
She will be greatly missed in the neighborhood. She was such a good friend to Grover.
Eileen and I are so sorry to hear about your loss. We miss seeing always cheerful and smiling Melanie around our neighborhood.
John and Eileen Kelly, Park City
Don and our condolences on the loss of your beautiful wife.
I grew up with the Ottesons, this is very sad, she was always very sweet.
I’m deeply heartbroken to hear of melanies passing!! She was truly a beautiful person! So incredibly kind, and will be deeply missed. I have a lot of memories hanging out at her house and Henri’s! Such good times! I’m praying for all of her family. Heaven gained an angel for sure!
I am very sorry for you loss. She was a wonderful representative of our school.
My memories of Melanie are so special and pure. A time of simplicity and girlfriends that are long gone but so special. We were friends in our early teens through high school. My heart breaks with this news. I'll remember her smile and
lite and warmth just like the last time I
saw her. Beautiful friend rest in pease and bring comfort to your loved ones.
I’m sad to hear this news; Mel was a bright light during my high school years and always treated others with kindness.
May her family and friends find peace and feel her love as time moves forward.
Dear loved ones of Melanie,
As a Sunset High School and West Hills Ward alum, I knew Melanie as someone who seemed to carry sunlight with her wherever she went. We are so sorry for your loss and heartache, as surely you will miss her. Our heartfelt sympathy to your wonderful family and hope you find much joy in your memories of the beautiful person she was.
Steve,
We hope that having friends and family close will provide the love and support your family needs now. We only met Melanie once, but her sweet personality and your great love for each other was evident from that first moment. Please accept our condolences for your great loss and our wishes that, in time, you and your family will find peace and healing.
We want to share our most heartfelt sympathies to Steve and all the family and friends of Melanie. There is no doubt that her untimely passing left a large void in the hearts of many. May the wonderful memories of her time on this earth help ease the pain.
When you meet a person who brightens your day without saying one word, that would be Melanie. She was and is very rare in this world and when something is as rare as she was that alone makes her so "valuable". She made you feel happy, important and valued when you met her. She had a light within her that always radiated her goodness. She made a difference and you could feel it. May the light she shared be forever brighter because of her. I am a better person, we are all better to others because of her. She made a difference and will always be such a light and positive influence even when she's no longer here....
Jeff Smith
To Steve and Family
Melanie was a true light! A wonderful, kind and beautiful lady.
Thinking of you, caring about you.. wishing you strength and peace!
We send our condolences, here for you always!
Love,
Your Forever Friend & Neighbor
Melanie had the most incredible aura, the sort of person you loved being around, with an unparalleled angelic softness. It is such an honor to know her, and that beautiful strength that carries through to her daughter Chelsea who I love with all my heart. Rest In Peace, Mel. You are deeply cherished by so many.
When a very dear friend disappears, I become unable to express my sadness let alone offer words of support to the dears he/she leaves. This has been very much the case with Melanie as it has taken me some days to write something despite my desire to be in touch with her and her dears.
I came to know Melanie when I was some 18 years old. Mitch had talked an awful lot about her, … her beauty and kindness. But when she arrived to stay at my parent’s place in Pisa in the early eighties, I was not prepared for such an explosive combination of energy, beauty and kindness. We went jogging together along the banks of the Arno River and I suddenly became very, very popular amongst cohorts of young Italians who, even more suddenly, pretended to be old friends of mine and became joggers overnight.
Later, in 1982, Mitch went to Oxford and Katrin and I met with them somewhere in Europe. I believe we went skiing and spent some days in Austria.
The next flashback I have, is me at her parent’s place in Portland sometime around 1986. They were kind enough to host me there for some time while I was starting my first job. Howard and Dorothy were super kind to me and indeed wonderful people. Howard was a successful dentist, loved to dance and cook the food while Dorothy was busy with her job in court and taking care of Howard and me. They never missed a chance to show their sympathy to me and I felt at home. Then I met Scott and Veline. And the picture was almost complete. One could see why Melanie was the way she was and still vividly is in my mind and heart.
In May 2012, we were happy to be invited to Chelseas’s marriage on the Como Lake. Melanie was radiant and beautiful as ever. And never jet-legged! And, there we got to know Steve whom we instinctively liked at first sight and even more when talking, I told him that I had been at a Beach Boys concert in Provo Utah in 1981. He said to me they would be back for the 4th of July and we agreed we could not miss such a revival.
So, off went to the USA and were invited by Steve and Mel to stay in their condo in Park City. There we got to know better Nik and Cameron who then came later to stay some days with us in Rome and on the boat.
But 2012 was a good year, in fact both Steve and Mel came to attend a 3-day non stop celebration we had put together for Katrin’s 50th birthday. Melanie had fun. She was happy to be there with us and our friends. And most of all, she was happy to be with Steve whom she dearly and deeply loved. Melanie was full of love and attention for everyone around there. Her kindness was no acting but true and people loved to be close to her because she was positive, happy and had the rare quality of transmitting energy, positive energy to those surrounding her.
The same type of energy Elisa, at that time 16, kept describing when she came back from over a month with Melanie and Steven in summer 2015. Mel took Elisa on beautiful hiking and biking tours, and let her work in her heart-felt and growingly successful chocolate startup, having a very positive impact on Elisa. We shall always be thankful to her and Steve for this. In fact, I sometimes see something of her in Elisa who is now 22 and simply adored Melanie.
People come and go and sometimes I have the feeling we are just passengers on a vaguely defined waiting list we seem to have no control upon. Melanie came and she left to all of us something big. I don’t know if that is love or joy or enthusiasm or a mixture of all. Fact is she meant and means a lot to me, to Katrin, and to our children Luca and Elisa. Though we live very far from you guys, we feel very close and want to embrace you all and say “Ciao Melanie, sei forte e ti vogliamo bene “. Francesco
Dearest Mel,
you will always be in my heart!
Love you, Tinka
Dear Steve…..
We were texting with John & Eileen yesterday and they told us about Melanie……
I am so sorry for your loss……I wish we had known sooner to be able to reach out to you.
We left PC the first week of September and during our summer stay, we saw her 1-2xs but actually never spoke…she was going in and out of the unit.
We had no idea…..
We are returning to PC shortly and hope to see you so we can express our condolences in person.
Please also convey our condolences to ALL the kids……
Marv & Patty Cherin (Paddington neighbors)
I remember this beautiful girl in Junior high at Cedar Park in the mid 70's. I would bet that there were many like me who if asked now as middle-aged men, would admit to having a mad crush on her from afar, and in no way had the courage to let her know. I had it so bad that I remember riding my bike past her house hoping she would appear outside! She was striking and also had that wonderful sweetness about her. A heart pounding combination for a teenage guy lol :) Apparently, she did not change much in later years. And I remember those junior high days as if it were yesterday! To her family and friends sending you good thoughts. May her soul rest in peace.
Belated condolences to Melanie’s family and loved ones. I went to high school with Melanie and we were on the dance team together, spending a lot of time with the team during practices, rehearsals and performances. Melanie was a beacon of light. She was kind to everyone. Melanie’s smile, and her gift of knowing what to say or do to bring comfort or a laugh to others, left a wake of positivity. Melanie’s absolute beauty made a mark on this world to be remembered and carried forward by all of us blessed to have known her.