Joan Schultz Melby

Joan Schultz Melby was born on January 1, 1932, to Luther and Hattie (Yeska) Schultz and passed away at 93 years of age on October 28, 2025.

Joan was raised in the Hinsdale South Bench community among the extended families of the Schultze’s and the Yeska’s. She graduated from Hinsdale High School in 1949.  Joan attended college at Western Montana College in Dillon and Northern Montana College at Havre earning a teaching certificate.  She taught at rural schools in Choteau County and north of Hinsdale, Montana.

Joan married Raymond “Red” Melby on June 9, 1952.  They raised five children, Janet, Calton, LaVaun, Dora-Jean, and Susan on the ranch west of Hinsdale. She was an incredible cook, an accomplished seamstress, prolific knitter, avid photographer, an EMT, and a master crossword and jigsaw puzzle solver.   

Joan was preceded in death by her parents Lute and Hattie Schultz; her husband Raymond Melby; her son Calton Melby; her siblings and their spouses: Jim and Linda Schultz, Roy and Myrtice Schultz, Mabel and Tom Nelson, Frances and Art Holter, and Bill and Lois Schultz.

Joan is survived by her sister Margie (Bob) Stefczak; her daughters: Janet (Justin) Mader, LaVaun (Mike) McCann, Dora-Jean (Ed) Beil, and Susan (Larry) Apodaca; seven grandchildren, fourteen great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. 

Memorial services will take place at the Methodist Church in Hinsdale on Saturday, June 27, at 11:00 am.  Graveside service following at the Hinsdale Hillview Cemetery with a lunch reception at the Hinsdale Legion Hall.