Melinda Lou Fultz

Melinda Lou Fultz passed away peacefully Thursday, July 27, 2023, at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita after an eight-year battle with ovarian cancer. She was 70. Graveside services are planned for 10:00 am Friday, September 15, 2023, at the El Paso Cemetery in Derby, Kansas

Born in Wichita on July 6, 1953, Melinda grew up in Derby, Kansas, where she graduated from Derby High School in 1971. She attended Oklahoma Christian University and completed several technical training programs. Her working life was spent in manufacturing and health care as an employee of Sands Level & Tool, Harmon Manufacturing, Christ Villa and Wesley Medical Center.

Melinda had physical and processing challenges throughout her life. Despite her struggles, Melinda never gave up and she never complained. Even in the midst of chemotherapy and radiation, Melinda would say she was, “Just fine.” It is emblematic of Melinda’s spirit and faith that she chose to be an organ donor and was able to help others through a Sight Savers donation at her death.

Melinda spent the last eight years of her life as a resident of Kansas Masonic Home and Avita Assisted Living. The years spent with the kind and accepting residents and staff of those two facilities were the happiest years of her life. The family wishes to thank them for giving Melinda a sense of community. She enjoyed the many activities and volunteered in the facility libraries as well as at the Mid-America All-Indian Center and the Midwest Historical & Genealogical Society. Melinda was a proud citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and enjoyed attending its Wichita events.

The family also would like to express their gratitude to Dr. Jacqueline Morgan and her staff for their wonderful care of Melinda. Special thanks also goes to Bob Moore whose cheerful assistance and friendship made her life easier. A final word of thanks goes to the anonymous people who encountered Melinda along the way and treated her with dignity and kindness, letting her feel wanted and included.

Melinda was preceded in death by her parents, Norma and John Fultz, her sister, Paula Beth Fultz, and stepbrother, Bruce Butterfield, as well as her aunt and uncle, Paula and Sterling Varner of Wichita. She is survived by her stepmother, Zoe Fultz of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, and her stepsister, Deann Butterfield of Heartland, Wisconsin, and Bruce’s widow, Dianne Butterfield of Grenola, Kansas. Melinda delighted in being “Aunt Melinda” to Bruce and Dianne’s sons, Benjamin, James and Jonathan Butterfield. Also surviving Melinda, are cousins Richard Varner of Wichita and Jane Varner Beard of Abilene, Texas and special friends Marsha and Ray Brown of Wichita and Michelle Graebner of College Station, Texas.

Those wishing to honor Melinda’s memory may do so with a gift to the Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinic at Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount Wichita, Kansas 67260 or to the donor’s favorite charity.