Melody Parry was in the strategic communications and marketing field for 30 years. She and her husband co-founded Inside Columbia and its sister magazines, which won numerous national awards for editorial content, design and photography. As publisher, she oversaw the strategic direction of the publications. Melody was a small business owner for 15 years, founding a marketing agency assisting national, regional and local clients with their strategic communications needs while co-hosting a weekly radio show for eight years. Melody was active in the local community, founding a nonprofit organization to educate women about their health and well-being. She served as president for an international nonprofit organization that focuses on providing support to women and orphans in Africa. She traveled to Malawi four times to support three small villages with their feeding and educational programs and to help build a local library. She was honored as the Debin Benish Outstanding Business Woman of the Year from the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. Outside of Malawi, Columbia was her favorite place to be. You could often find Melody and her husband trying new dishes at Barred Owl Butcher & Table and Chris McD’s. She also loved playing pickleball at Albert Oakland Park with her son Nick and video games with her son Max. And she enjoyed the competitions, even though she rarely won. (But don’t be fooled — she won plenty off the court.)