Mary Faith Mellema

1944 - 2023

Mary Faith (Heynen) Mellema Mary Faith (Heynen) Mellema passed away at the age of 78 in Los Angeles, CA on January 1, 2023 at Solheim Senior Community. Mary was a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother. Mary was born on September 17, 1944 in Altadena, CA to Ahleen (Dekker) Heynen and William Heynen. Along with brothers Dave and Dan, Mary grew up in Alaska. While attending Calvin College, Mary met Joel, who later became her husband for 57 wonderful years. They moved to Los Angeles in 1965. On December 19, 1980, they welcomed son Michael, and Mary became a loving and devoted mother. Mary's mother was an accomplished musician, and music was a part of Mary's life from the beginning. Mary had a beautiful singing voice and performed with church choirs, the Roger Wagner Chorale, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, as well as the Wagner Ensemble. Mary was very involved with her church community at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, singing in the choir and serving on the Board of Trustees. She will be deeply missed by those who loved her. Mary worked for many years in Human Resources, ending her career as the director of Human Resources for Occidental College, before retiring to spend time with her son Michael. Mary was a regular community volunteer throughout her life, starting in childhood when she regularly helped her family feed service members after church. She volunteered at Michael's school, was performance manager of the Los Angeles Children's Chorus, and worked at Union Station Foundation (food kitchen). Mary and Joel loved to travel, especially camping and visiting new places. They loved returning to old favorites, like Alaska and Kauai. One of Mary's favorite things in life was being a grandmother, and she loved Alexa and Jacob dearly. Mary spent as much time with them as she could and tried to make their lives better in every way. Mary is survived by her husband Joel Mellema of Pasadena, her son Michael Mellema (Chante) and grandchildren Alexa and Jacob of La Canada Flintridge, and brothers Dan Heynen (Gwen) of Vancouver, WA and Dave Heynen (Nancy) of Anchorage, AK.