Melissa Rose Leyda

1998 - 2018

Leyda, Melissa Rose Melissa Rose Leyda was born August 27, 1998 and lived in Vernon, Wisconsin outside of Waukesha. She lived with her parents, Ed & Lisa (Lepak) on the family farm. She spent her childhood surrounded by nature, exploring the fields, ponds, woods and valley that bordered the home. Her love of animals stems from this time. She inherited her mother's love of horses and enjoyed learning to ride the horses and ponies they kept. She also loved her dogs and cats that were the family pets; not to mention the chinchilla, racoons, turtles, and fish that made up the menagerie. Most recently she had fallen in love with elephants and their images adorned her room. She also shared her mother's love of art, although she never pursued it and her potential was untapped. She loved her father's cooking and enjoyed his experimentation and improvisation in the kitchen. As a young girl she would latch on to his leg and ride around the house on his foot and he was wrapped around her finger just as tightly. Her cat Mittens was a constant companion, tolerating being carried everywhere around the house. Mittens was still with Melissa, traveling with her to college. Melissa attended Clarendon elementary school, Park View Middle school and graduated from Mukwonago High School before enrolling at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. She had a large and varied group of friends throughout her school years. She was a Best Buddy in middle school, spending time with students who needed some help. Her big heart led her to welcome others into her life and she was a dedicated and caring friend to many. It was in middle school that her love affair with music also began. She dabbled in playing both the flute and violin. Ultimately it was pop music that captured her attention and her favorite artist was none other than the king of pop, Michael Jackson. Her tastes grew and expanded over the years, but nothing replaced his music as her first love. Melissa began her working years to help pay for college. She was a welcome addition to the Milwaukee County Zoo staff where she was a dedicated and hardworking employee. This was only appropriate since she and her family spent many days at the zoo growing up, including about 10 years in a row of family birthday parties. Her parents even had their wedding reception at the zoo before Melissa was a twinkle in her father's eye, so their connection to the Zoo made her working there only natural. Not to mention her Uncle-in-law working there for 28 years. She also worked at the Klotsche Center at UW-Milwaukee more recently. This was also a natural fit for her as Melissa was beginning to pursue a course of study in kinesiology. In middle school and high school Melissa was a member of the track team. She was a competitive sprinter and loved to run. On a visit to her uncle's alma mater, Purdue, she hopped a fence just to be able to run a hundred on a college track. Health and fitness were important to her. She was also majoring in Spanish in college. Melissa spent a few weeks in Barcelona, Spain in high school on a language learning trip. She fell in love with both the Spanish and Hispanic culture, language and food. She was fond of the Latin American culture that surrounds us in this part of Wisconsin and hoped to do a semester abroad in Spain in college. Traveling was also something Melissa loved and wanted to do more of. She had taken trips with some of her close friends to Florida in recent years. The sun, beach and ocean felt like her natural environment. Swimming in the ocean, snorkeling and playing on the beach in the day was followed by live music and clubs at night. These trips combined so many of her favorite things, friends, the sun and ocean, music and fun! Melissa was at her best when she was happy and joyful and loved to laugh with her friends and family. Life was not always easy for Melissa. Her family has a history of depression and mental illness and Melissa was faced with these demons at a young age. She had her own battles in the stress of young adulthood and the pressures of college and living on her own. Ultimately, these obstacles only served to refine the strength that was at Melissa's core. She emerged from these difficult times a stronger, more complete person. She used that strength to help others and wanted to be a source of encouragement to those around her when they were facing their own struggles. Melissa was lost to us tragically on August 11, 2018 in a single car accident. There was so much more to her story and she had so much more to share with us who loved her. She lives on in our hearts and memories. Family will greet friends from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM on Saturday, August 25, 2018 at the Feerick Funeral Home in Shorewood. Memories will be shared at 2:00 PM. Memorials in Melissa's name may be made to Rogers Memorial Hospital Foundation, https://rogershospitalfoundation.org/