Deceased March 27, 2013
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In Memory
Melanie (Mello) Hayhow ’78 died March 27, 2013, at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston with her family at her side. She was 57 and had suffered traumatic brain injury from an accidental fall in her home.
Some of you may remember Melanie as a slight wisp of a woman, perennially smiling and always willing to lend a hand to anyone in need. She was bright, kind, cheerful and funny. In short, she was delightful company and was adept at coaxing a smile or a laugh out of her fellow students when they were most in need of either of both of these.
Melanie was always proud of her honors degree from Amherst, but she almost didn’t make it to her beloved alma mater. Her parents were first-generation Americans who had been raised by immigrants from the Azores. In turn, her parents raised their children according to the rules of “the old country,” so a young woman did not leave home until she was married. Melanie attended Cape Cod Community College because she could commute, but her parents were reluctant to let her continue her education beyond that. It took the urging—almost the begging—of one of her professors to get them to relent.
Melanie worked for more than 30 years as a copy editor for the Standard-Times, a daily newspaper in New Bedford, Mass. She would often mention that her classmates were doctors, lawyers and leaders in industry, politics and the arts. At times, she felt that by working at a small paper she was wasting her education. We would always assure her that what was important was that she was doing something she truly enjoyed, and remind her that she did it exceptionally well.
Peter P. Hayhow and Leslie A. (Ferguson) Ryan ’77