Melanie McGarry McKennett

     Melanie McGarry McKennett, age 70, died peacefully at home in Dover, DE on August 2, 2023 with her husband of 37 years by her side.  She was preceded in death by her parents and brother. She is survived by her husband, Bob of Dover, DE; her stepdaughter Jennifer of Syracuse, UT; and her grandchildren, Grayson and Emma.  

     Melanie was born into a military family in 1953, and for the first 18 years, she was in as many schools, graduating from Berlin High School in the American sector of a divided Germany in 1971. Melanie graduated from Skidmore College with a degree in Nursing in 1975. Melanie loved operating room nursing from the start and spent the next 40-plus years serving in all possible roles from director to scrub nurse, in a variety of medical centers. She retired from Bayhealth in 2017 having served as a certified RN first assistant, educator, and informatics specialist. 

     Melanie was an Army Reserve nurse and served in Operation Desert Shield / Storm. She was medically discharged as a Captain in 1996. Melanie loved the outdoors, wildlife, reading, and especially her cats. Her love of reading was such that she attempted to pass it on through the Read Aloud Program and National Capital Therapy Dogs READ program with the family’s trusted therapy dog, Tara.

     Visitation will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 PM Tuesday August 15, 2023  at Pippin Funeral Home, 119 W. Camden Wyoming Avenue, Wyoming, DE 19934. Interment will be 1:30 P.M. Wednesday August 16, 2023 at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, 60 Indiantown Gap Road, Annville, PA 17003. Kindly omit  flowers. The family requests  donations be made in her name to DTCC Educational Foundation, the Melanie McKennett Surgical Technician Scholarship Fund, PO Box 897, Dover, DE 19903. Online condolences may be made via www.pippinfuneralhome.com.

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