Melanie C. Esterline

Melanie made her debut on April 9th, 1950 in Marion, Ohio with her late parents Gene and Carol(Frost) Esterline, where she lived until she was in 8th grade. She graduated from Huntingdon Area High School in Huntingdon, PA in 1968 and went on to Juniata College where she studied criminology and sociology.

Anyone who met her realized she had an amazing sense of humor, loved all animals, was a voracious reader and surrounded herself with beautiful plants. While many people young and old fear clowns, collecting them was one of Mimi’s eclectic hobbies. Mimi also won a gold medal in shoe hoarding, although she never trained hard enough to wear any of them out! Melanie’s successful professional career commenced as a dental hygienist and then spent 25 years in the health insurance field, progressing through management roles in multiple functions in Minnesota and Kansas City.

She was survived by her sisters Sheri (Reynolds) and nephew David, Claudia (Arietta) and two nieces, Mandy and Amy and nephew David John. She was also survived by her only son, Matt Hockman, his wife Shana and their kids, Rowan(5) and Rocco (4) currently in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Melanie loved being a grandmother but she didn’t have the patience to wait for Rowan to be able to pronounce “Grammy,” so she changed her grandkid name to Mimi in 2014.

There will not be a memorial service or a funeral per Mimi’s direct guidance, but we will be planning a small get together at a later date.

Please pass along endless goodwill to your friends, your neighbors, your family and your co-workers, as ensuring the world had more smiles today than yesterday is all my mom ever wanted. Planting a tree, flower or plant in her memory is symbolic, as they give off oxygen….and create smiles.

Arrangements are under the direction of HP Brandt Funeral Home ,Inc., 1032 Perry hwy. Ross Twp. (412-364-4444). Condolences may be offered at www.brandtfuneralhome.com