Melissa Lindholm Obituary

LINDHOLM, Melissa Melissa McClure Lindholm, 41, of Asheville, N.C., died at her home on September 17, 2007, following a 13 month struggle with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. She was a 1983 American Field Service exchange student to Istanbul, Turkey, and a 1984 graduate of Jefferson City (Mo.) Senior High School. She earned a BS in Biology from Bryn Mawr College in 1988, an MS in Neurobiology and an MAT in Secondary Education from Cornell University in 1991, and an AA in Metalsmithing from Haywood Community College in 1997. She taught Biology and Science at North Buncombe County (N.C.) High School, and for several years was a Science Educator and Summer Camp Director at The Health Adventure in Asheville, N.C. None of these sterile facts captures the vitality of the woman we have lost, nor the vacuum her loss leaves in our lives. She is survived by her husband, James Robert Atkinson; two sons, William Sharpe Lindholm Atkinson, and Harrison McClure Lindholm Atkinson; step-daughter, Hannah Rebecca Cameron-Atkinson, of Quincy, Ill.; her mother and step-father, Susan Lewis and William Robert Winslow of Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; her father and step-mother, Robert and Joyce Lindholm of Lindsborg, Kan.; her sister, Christina Lindholm Oxford, also of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., and her grandmother, Dorothy Sharpe Lewis, of Charleston, S.C. Services will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 20, 2007, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Asheville, N.C. A reception will follow at the church. All are welcome to attend. Donations of cash or appreciated securities are suggested to: Traditions Acupuncture Clinic c/o M. Cissy Majebe, 382 Montford Ave., Asheville, NC 28801 www.chineseacupuncture-wnc.com (828) 258-9016, Bryn Mawr College, Helfarian, 101 North Merion Ave., Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 www.brynmawr.edu/makeagift (610) 526-5127. The Health Adventure c/o The Melissa Lindholm Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 180, Asheville, NC 28802 www.thehealthadventure.org (828) 254-6373. The Mountain Retreat and Learning Centers, 3872 Dillard Road, P.O. Box 1299, Highlands, NC 28741 www.mountaincenters.org/gifts (828) 526-5838, ext. 230. Arrangements by Asheville Area Alternative Funeral and Cremation, Asheville, N.C. Visit our guestbook at www.charleston.net/deaths.