Melanie Michelle Johnson-Dempsey

Funeral service for Melanie Michelle Johnson-Dempsey, 48, of Nacogdoches will be held at 11:00am on Saturday, July 15, 2023 at Laird Funeral Home with Mr. Chandler Young officiating.  Visitation will be held from 10-11am prior to the service.

Mrs. Johnson-Dempsey passed away on July 8, 2023 in Tyler.  She was born in Harris County on October 5, 1974. 

The life of Melanie Johnson Dempsey can be summed up in the words of one of her favorite songs by Aerosmith…”I could spend my life in this sweet surrender; I could stay lost in this moment forever; every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure.”  She lived each day with such joy and appreciated the beauty of life itself.  She took solace and found comfort in things that lots of people delighted in but Melanie took it to another level.  A level of comprehension.  Her love of music was deep and her life was filled with lyrics from many songs from multiple genres.  She also found remarkable beauty in the illustrations she made by simply coloring.  She enjoyed fishing and the serenity it brought to her life and the lives of those who were with her.  To say the least, she lived her life to the fullest and was surrounded by love that she felt to her core.

Melanie was born in Harris County and grew up surrounded by a very large family and a variety of animals.  As an adult, she fondly remembered the days of her youth and the happiness that encompassed her as a child.  Her time spent as a cheerleader was some of the great ones.  She also developed her love of music during her childhood days.  She attended many concerts and enjoyed every moment (including being pulled on stage with Brett Michael).  At the age of 15, she married James Elvis Dempsey and over the next 8 years, she had her daughters, who were her pride and joy.  Their friends and other children she was blessed to be around, quickly gave her the title of momma.  They saw her as a mother figure and she loved it.  When she became Gigi to her grandchildren, she knew an even greater joy in life!  She loved animals and treated them almost as good as she did her children.  Melanie also loved drawing, writing, watching horror movies and Zelda.  She was a huge fan of Dallas Cowboy Football and the sound of the football game made her feel at home.  She had a giving heart, a kind soul, never judged anyone and always found good in every person she met.  She was a great role-model, confidant, supporter and friend.  For those who did not have the pleasure of knowing her, they sadly have missed out on knowing a true southern woman who took values and morals very seriously. 

Melanie’s memory is left to be cherish by her daughters, Faith Dempsey & husband, Jonathan Smith and Megan Dempsey & husband, Nicholaus Oliver; granddaughters, Laurelia Smith and Layla Smith; sister-at-heart, Annette Scott; father of her children, James Dempsey; sister, Shannon Kiser & husband, John; stepfather, Charles Irwin and brother Mark Johnson & fiancé, Susanne Vollentine.  She is also survived by those she loved and cared for as her own: nieces, April Morin & family and Autumn White & husband, Jose Mosquera; nephew, Eli White; step-son, Johnathon Gilbreath; step-daughter, Chyenne Gilbreath; Victoria Cox; daughter, Ravenna Cox; nieces, Brittany Risch & family and Brittany White & family; nephew, Josh Spizzirri & family; nieces Tessa Hayes and Tyler Gipson & family and family friends, Shelby Stark, Keagan Ivey and Lauren Egner

She is preceded in death by her mother, Betty Irwin; grandmother, Clara Smith; mother-in-law, Patricia Cobb; grandmother-in-law, Maurine Wingate McBroom; brother, Kevin Johnson; father, August Gray Johnson; grandfather, PawPaw Irwin and angel babies and grandbabies.

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