Age 39, Luray, Va.
Melissa Danielle McDevitt, 39, passed away on December 9, 2022.
She was born on August 15, 1983, in West Palm Beach, Florida, and was a daughter of Thomas W. McDevitt and Margaret Isabella Ayre McDevitt of North Carolina.
Melissa was a 2001 graduate of Tuscola High School in Waynesville, NC, and a 2006 graduate of Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, earning a BA in anthropology. She was a ranger for the National Park Service, and was involved in numerous hiking, skiing and running clubs.
Melissa lived a life of adventure taking in some of the most remote parts of North America, as an avid hiker of the Smokies, Rockies, Cascades, as well as the ice fields of Alberta, Canada, from Banff to Jasper. She covered the far reaches of Vancouver Island, BC, to the north and the Sooke wilderness to the south, where she perished and did not return from her final hike. She skied Olympic Mountains and snowshoed them as well. An accomplished marathon runner, she was extremely proud of completing the Great Canadian Crossing.
Melissa’s passion was for sea-glassing and beach combing. She loved finding the treasures that the sea brought back to the shore. She would spend countless hours researching her finds to understand how they ended up on the shores she so loved to comb.
Within all of her activities she was a prolific photographer, capturing her experiences in nature showcasing the beauty of fauna and flora she so enjoyed.
In addition to her parents, Melissa is survived by her aunt and uncle, Pat and Charles George of Roanoke, VA; her uncle and aunt, John and Janice McDevitt of Tolland, CT; and her aunt and uncle, Marjorie and Eric Hunt of County Durham, England; as well as a number of cousins on both sides of the Atlantic.
A funeral service will be conducted at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, January 23, at the Bradley Funeral Home, with visitation one hour prior to the service, from 1 to 2 p.m. Burial will be in the Riley Family Cemetery.
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