Dr. Melody Diann Ashenfelter was born on January 20, 1955, in Marysville, California, the oldest surviving child of Dale Wayne Ashenfelter and Betty Ruth (East) Ashenfelter. She died peacefully in Weatherford, OK, on August 10, 2026, with her sisters by her side.

Soon after Melody's birth, the family of three moved back to the family farm north of Gotebo, OK, near the community of Lake Valley, to be close to grandparents, Jacob and Maggie (Kelso) Ashenfelter and Orin and Edith (Mandrell) East. Sisters Debra and Sharla were soon added to make the family of five complete. Melody worked beside her parents and sisters on the family farm and attended Gotebo Public School. She was active in Sharon Missionary Baptist Church, located just a few miles from her home, where she accepted Jesus as her Savior at an early age and soon became the first of the Ashenfelter sisters to serve as church pianist.

Melody graduated from Gotebo Public School in 1973 and headed to Southwestern Oklahoma State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Secondary Education in 1976. She then left to attend Oklahoma State University for coursework toward a master's degree in business education, which she completed in 1978. Meanwhile, in August 1977, Melody took her first teaching position at Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilburton, OK, teaching Business Education. Melody remained at Wilburton until December 1986, with a one-year leave of absence from 1983-1984, when she returned to OSU to pursue her doctorate.

In May 1986, Melody completed her doctoral thesis and received her Doctor of Education degree from OSU. That December, Melody moved back to Weatherford to accept a teaching position at Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) for the Spring 1987 semester. At SWOSU, Melody built a career spanning 33 years, teaching upper-level accounting to more than a generation of SWOSU students, before retiring in May 2019. While teaching full-time at SWOSU, Melody obtained her CPA in July 1988 and was an instructor for Becker CPA Review Courses for nine years, from 1991 to 2000, and proctored CPA exams for the Oklahoma Accountancy Board for several years.

During Melody's career at SWOSU, she received several promotions before retiring as a tenured Professor as the Everett Dobson Endowed Chair of Accounting. She served in several leadership roles and on committees, including tenure and accreditation committees. The year following her retirement, Melody was honored with a SWOSU Alumni Association Emeritus Award. She was also a long-time member of OSCPA, where she served on the Education Committee and received a Distinguished CPA Award, as well as the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce and PEO. Upon retirement, Melody remained committed to furthering educational opportunities for accounting students at SWOSU through the establishment of the Dr. Melody Ashenfelter Scholarship Award for accounting students.

While committed to her professional career, Melody was devoted to her family above all. From the beginning of her career, and although Wilburton was four hours away, Melody made countless trips home to Gotebo to participate in every family gathering and event possible. This began a lifelong pattern of showing her love and support for her family. From continuing to help on the family farm; to serving as a doting aunt to nieces & nephews (and beloved Mel-Mel to the "greats" that followed); to managing business matters for the family farm; to welcoming Mom into her home and becoming her chief companion and caregiver when the need arose, Melody has shown her love for her family in countless ways. Her efforts to be actively involved only increased upon her retirement. Melody's presence, love and encouragement will be sorely missed by her family.

Melody's devotion to her family naturally flowed outwardly to encompass her many friends and former students. Melody had a gift for maintaining lasting friendships and those friends knew her to be faithful and generous. If you were Melody's friend, you knew she considered you and all your family, especially your children, to be part of her family. She followed your kids' activities and took pride in their accomplishments as a doting, bonus aunt.

Teaching was Melody's lifelong passion. She always spoke of her "former students" with great pride and affection and remained committed to encouraging and mentoring their careers after graduation in any way she could. Many became colleagues and members of her lifelong friends.

Melody is preceded in death by her grandparents, her parents, an older sister who died at birth, and nephew, Colin Treadaway. She is survived by sisters, Debra (Jim) Treadaway, of Woodward, and Sharla (Bill) Armstrong, of McLoud; nieces and nephews, Erin (Stacy) Ford, of Norman, Nathan (Kelli) Treadaway, of Woodward, and Danielle Armstrong, of Yukon; and great nieces and nephews Avery Bilyeu, Lucille Ford, Henry Ford, Audrey Ford and Liam Treadaway. She is also survived by many other family members and a host of friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the SWOSU Dr. Melody Ashenfelter Scholarship Fund, the Sharon Cemetery Fund or the Weatherford Regional Hospital with the funeral home accepting the donations.