Ladean Browning Melby-Ashby

Ladean Browning Melby-Ashby, a former resident and business woman of Casa Grande AZ, was called to her eternal home on July 5, 2025, at the age of 89, in Phoenix, Arizona following an accidental fall. Born on February 24, 1936, in Wister, Oklahoma, Ladean's journey through life was one marked by faith, creativity, and a passionate drive that knew no bounds.

Ladean's light shone brightly from the very beginning, as she grew up surrounded by the love and strength of her mother Dortha Belle Browning, father Mark Joel Browning, and her siblings: Helen Snyder, David, Danny, and Charles Browning. Her spirit of congeniality was recognized early when she was honored as Miss Congeniality at the Miss Oregon State Contest in 1953. She was a woman who wore many hats thru the years and wore them all with a unique grace and flair. She pursued her education at Oklahoma Baptist University, where her faith was nurtured and her intellect sharpened. Ladean's career was as dynamic as her personality; she soared to impressive heights as a real estate broker founding Melby and Associates, where she applied her sharp intellect and creative problem-solving skills to serve her clients with integrity and dedication. Life handed her many blows, divorces, business losses, homelessness, and then dementia. But she persevered thru it all and lived life on her terms, in her own home, fiercely independent.

Her creative soul found joy in the beauty of nature, hybridizing iris flowers, and collecting a rainbow of roses that mirrored the colorful tapestry of her life. Ladean's adventurous spirit and love for travel took her many places, to Greece, Italy, Costa Rica, and all over the United States. To the skies as a student pilot and across the waves in her beloved MacGregor Venture 23 sailboat. Her artistic talents were further expressed through canvas paintings, creating greenware ceramics and marathon quilting sessions, leaving behind a legacy of beautiful pieces that captured the essence of her artistic touch.

Ladean's legacy is carried on by her loving family. She was a devoted mother to James D. Nichols and Holly S. Nichols, a cherished grandmother to James T. Nichols and Lisa R. Sherwood, Chris Roye and Ian Boyd, and an adoring great-grandmother to Ariel Kostandin and Drake Sherwood. As well as her extended family, Claudia J Nichols, Scott Sherwood, Christina Crane Nichols. Each of them will continue to be inspired by her remarkable spirit and drive.

Those who knew Ladean understood that to describe her as faith-filled, creative, and passionate was to capture only a glimpse of the incredible woman she was. Her life was a complex tapestry woven with love, laughter, hard knocks and a faith that never wavered. Ladean B Melby-Ashby's memory will be cherished, and her stories will be told with a smile by family and friends.

As we bid farewell to Ladean B Melby-Ashby, we celebrate a life lived to the fullest, a journey marked by love, laughter, determination, and a faith that danced hand in hand with a spirit as free as the skies she once soared. Her memory will be cherished, her stories retold with joy, and her legacy will continue to bloom in the gardens she so lovingly tended and in the hearts of all who were blessed to know her.

In lieu of a formal funeral or flowers, donations may be made to Ladean's favorite charity, The St. Joseph's Indian School. 800-341-2235 PO Box 326, Chamberlain, SD 57326