melissa ashlee Oglesbee

Melissa Ashlee Oglesbee, 40, of Candler, North Carolina, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by love on December 10, 2021 after a long road with brain cancer.
Melissa was born on July 17, 1981 in Medina, Ohio to parents Patricia Crites and John Oglesbee; the family relocated to Watkinsville, Georgia in 1983. As a child, Melissa could often be found drawing, playing in the woods, creating imaginary worlds with her big sister Jennifer, and becoming fast friends with every animal she met.
She was a 1999 graduate of Oconee County High School where she played varsity soccer all four years, then went on to complete her Bachelor's Degree at Berry College in 2003. Melissa's years at Berry were filled with nature and sing-a-longs, camaraderie and laughter. She treasured her time at Berry and made some of her most cherished friendships there.
While at Berry she also met the most important person of all – her future husband, Garrett Earhart. They married in 2009 and made Candler their home. Melissa and Garrett shared a love of music and the outdoors and a quick sense of humor. They could often be found hiking and camping, singing and playing music, taking drives on the Blue Ridge Parkway, spending time with their dogs Tuza and Bluebell, embracing all things silly, and always making each other laugh.
Melissa's deep love for animals led her to a career as a licensed veterinary technician. She graduated at the top of her class from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College in 2010. She was a respected, highly skilled, and deeply caring technician, having spent her last working years at the Animal Hospital of North Asheville.
But more than any of her accomplishments, what people treasured most about Melissa was her compassion and candor, her kindness and her sense of humor. Inquisitive and insightful, Melissa never hesitated to ask the hard questions or to tell the truth with love. Generous and creative, she left imprints on everyone around her in the form of thoughtful gifts, encouraging words, and practical advice. She could always be relied upon for a good dose of humor and just the right amount of snark, even on the hardest of days. Caring, forgiving, honest, and always real, she had a giant heart and was eager to make the world a little better than she found it. She was deeply loyal not only to those she loved but to the causes that mattered most to her.
Melissa leaves behind a legacy of love that will be carried on by her devoted husband Garrett Earhart, mother and stepfather Patricia and Clifford Crites, father John Oglesbee, sister Jennifer Oglesbee (Dan Alamia), stepbrothers Christopher Boswell (Myra) and Cory Haggard, father-in-law and mother-in-law Larry and Sandra Earhart, sister-in-law Katherine Earhart Ordoñez (Mario), and her nieces and nephew (Helen and Simon Alamia and Antonia Ordoñez). She is preceded in death by her stepmother Janet Oglesbee, stepbrother Adam Haggard, and grandparents Charles and Nellie Beers and Wendell and Edna Oglesbee.
A small private service will be held on December 15.
In lieu of flowers, please give belly rubs to a dog, enjoy a long hike, spread a little kindness, or make a donation in Melissa's name to the Asheville Humane Society, 14 Forever Friend Lane, Asheville, NC 28806.