Melissa A. (Tournas) Markus

SALEM - Melissa Alexandria Markus passed away in her home last Monday due to a tragic fall. Born in Salem, January 22, 1964, she attended the Peabody public school system. She graduated from Peabody High in 1982 where she had been a member of the football cheerleading squad. After graduation, she worked at the Danvers Home for the Deaf, and then parlayed her experience there to take up a career as a home health care technician, a profession in which she was able to impart her enormous sense of empathy and kindness onto her senior community.

Melissa was a loving grandmother and enjoyed baking cupcakes and cookies to express her love, especially to 7 year old Skyler. Skyler had just recently gifted her “Mimi” a pair of magic rocks and had instructed Mimi to hold a magic rock to her ear in order for her to hear: “I love you.” And then further instructed her to talk into it whenever she was feeling down. The magic rocks have now established a direct line to Heaven.

Melissa leaves behind her loving husband David Markus; her children Dylan, Samantha, and John and his wife Danielle; her older sister Christine Whitman and husband Steven; her younger sister Diane Albano; her grandchildren Christopher and Skyler; her nieces and nephews Delana, Zachary, Jacob and Rachel, and Madison and Dexter and Liam and Avigail; and scores of friends.

ARRANGEMENTS: A “celebration of life" gathering will be announced. Assisting the family with the arrangements is O’Donnell Cremations – Funerals – Celebrations, 84 Washington Sq., (at Salem Common) SALEM. In lieu of flowers, Melissa’s family, having always helped her with mental health issues, has requested a donation to NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Illness), The Schrafft’s Center, 529 Main Street, Suite 1M17, Boston, MA  02129. To share a memory or offer a condolence, please visit www.odonnellfuneralservice.com.

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