Melodie Y. Arnold Steverson

Melodie Arnold Steverson passed peacefully in her sleep on Thursday, June 13, 2024. Born on March 16, 1950, in Cincinnati, Ohio to Thomas and Lenora White, Melodie spent her early years in Ohio, graduating from Courter Tech High School, and then she moved to Florida where she lived in DeFuniak Springs and Bonifay. 

She spent years working in management at BP Oil stations, and she was a member of the VFW Auxiliary and the Disabled American Veterans. Her church memberships included Cluster Springs Baptist, New Harmony Baptist, and Little Rock Assembly of God. 

Melodie was incredibly proud of her daughters and her grandchildren. Time spent with them was time well spent, and she took advantage of every opportunity. She also enjoyed spending time dancing, singing karaoke, fishing, playing cards and bingo, visiting the casino in Biloxi, loving her dogs Molly and Donna, and eating at her favorite restaurant Mom and Dad’s in DeFuniak Springs (before it closed in 2022). 

To Melodie, no day was complete without cups of hot, black coffee and a bag of Cheetos, and any day was made better with music by great artists like Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline. 

Friends and family will treasure memories of Melodie being funny and sassy, loving to play games, and highly valuing her family time. 

She is survived by her husband, Niel Steverson, children Robyn Pierce (Sue Pike), Rebecca Cassidy (Thomas), and Rachael Martin (Steve), sisters Rita Fisher and Bonita Vitori (Patrick), brothers Raymond White (Kathleen), Douglas White (Margaret), Garrett White (Martha), William White (Ellie), and Michael White (Nora). She also leaves behind grandchildren Sierra Peterson, Chase Arnold, Zachary Cassidy, Quintin Garcia, and Anna Cassidy, one great-grandchild, Declan Peterson, and many nieces and nephews.  She is predeceased by former spouses Barry L. Pierce and John L. Arnold, parents Thomas William White and Lenora Castle Steele White, nieces Tracy White and Patricia Nelson, nephew Carlos Peacock, and brother-in-law Jack Fisher. 

The family extends a special thank you to Pruitt Health of Santa Rosa for their loving care of Melodie – especially Tina, Keke, Christy, Selena, and Tiffany and to Andrea and Melissa at Sandy Ridge Nursing Home.

Flowers are being accepted, but donations may also be made to New Harmony Baptist Church (2281 CR-2A, DeFuniak Springs, FL 32433).