Melanie Anne Harrell Graham

Born in Savannah, Georgia on June 24, 1958 to George William Harrell, Jr., US Army JAG and Annelore Stelljes Harrell, Melanie Anne Harrell Graham passed away on Sunday, July 5, 2015 in her home on Myrtle Island in Bluffton, South Carolina. She spent most of her school years in Germany where she graduated from Stuttgart American High School. Melanie was confirmed in the Lutheran faith in Worms, Germany in the Wittenberg Cathedral where the Protestant reformation began. She was an accomplished horsewoman, trained in German dressage and really loved her English riding lessons in North Carolina, Hawaii and Germany. She worked as a hair stylist in Augusta, before opening her own Ardsley Park Hair Studio in Savannah and later worked for Hair Designers on Hilton Head. On April 17, 1982 Melanie and her husband Dee Dee were married in the Lutheran Church of the Ascension in Savannah, Georgia. After her marriage she was confirmed in the Episcopal faith at the Church of the Cross in Bluffton. She is predeceased by her father George William Harrell, Jr., brother Jonathan George Harrell, maternal grandparents, Anna and John Henry "Martin" Stelljes, paternal grandparents George and Lillian Harrell and nephew Adam Thomas Pinckney. She leaves behind husband Donald "Dee Dee" Cummings Graham, son Alexander "Anders" Cummings Graham, daughter Anna Catherine Graham, mother Annelore Harrell, sisters Tamela Anne Maxim (Nicholas), Anne Elizabeth Stacks (David), brother Andrew "Boo" William Harrell (Caprice "Cappi"), sister-in-law Anne Cameron Rowe, brother-in-law John Washington Graham, maternal uncle John Henry "Martin" Stelljes (Elizabeth "Lib"), nieces Claire Gnann Pinckney Timmerman (David), Emily Cameron Rowe, Sydney Leigh Harrell, Drew Covington Harrell, nephews Matthew "Matt" William Stacks, Daniel Martin Stacks, James "Jim" Peters Wilborn, David Burke Wilborn, great-niece Theile May Pickney Timmerman and great-nephews Taylor "Reese" Pinckney and River Marion Pinckney Timmerman, cousins, Helen Elizabeth "Beth" Stelljes, Janet Marie Fisher (Leonard "Len"), Lynda Diane "Lyn" Dotterweich Visitation: Sauls Funeral Home, Bluffton, South Carolina on Thursday, July 9th 6-8 pm Funeral: Church of the Cross, Calhoun Street, Bluffton, South Carolina on Friday, July 10th 11 am In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Church of the Cross Rector's discretionary fund. Visitation: Sauls Funeral Home, Bluffton, South Carolina on Thursday, July 9th 6-8 pm Funeral: Church of the Cross, Calhoun Street, Bluffton, South Carolina on Friday, July 10th 11 am In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Church of the Cross Rectorâ