Ms. Melyssa Jones

Melyssa Catryce Jones, aka Lyssa was born on March 15, 1977, to Venecia Lee and Clyde Thomas on Fort Bragg, North Carolina (now Fort Liberty). In her youth, Lyssa was an avid dancer of jazz, tap, and ballet, and was a member of several dance studios throughout the years. Lyssa attended Westover Middle School and High School, where she was known as a quirky and loyal friend who loved everyone. She graduated from Westover High School in 1995. Lyssa was taught to sew at an early age by her late grandmother, Lucy Ross, which sparked her creativity in many things. If she could see a picture of it, she was going to do her very best to make it jut like the picture, and she often did. Her yearning to learn gave her ides to sew without patterns, sparking her to make clothes for herself, family, and friends. Lyssa was employed at Children's Place at the Cross Creek Mall, where she would often call us about the exciting sales they had. She loved her job so much that she took a bus to and from work every day when she didn't have a ride to get there. She always made sure she was needed somewhere by being a model employee. Lyssa's love for the arts brought her into entrepreneurship, where she made many things for sale from jewelry, makeup, soap, and perfume, The family was gifted personalized bottles of wine one Christmas, which Lyssa made by hand. Being a master in the kitchen, there was nothing she wouldn’t try, to include cooking and baking. She began consulting and cooking, where she later became the head chef for her aunt’s event planning and catering business. During which resulted in many referrals based on her tasty food creations. Lyssa also loved to create unimaginable things such as pictures made with stones and gems and home remedies. She loved reading and helping others with anything they needed help with. Lyssa had a huge influence in raising 17 children in her family ranging from birth to elementary ages, she at one point moved to Virginia to be a nanny for her aunt that had recently given birth to twins. Lyssa’s most recent passion was gardening. She cultivated and nurtured everything from garlic, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and squash to beautiful flowers. She really enjoyed television, but her favorite show was” Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Her favorite color was purple and she wore it well. Lyssa is survived by her grandmother, Rose Cornish, Grandfather, James Thomas Sr, her parents Venecia Lee and Clyde Thomas, her sister Brittany Ross, her brother Stan Ross, her maternal nephew, Marshon “MJ” Mckoy, maternal niece Riiyu Burks-Ross, and many aunts uncles, cousins, extended family members and friends. “You will be missed terribly and lives will be changed forever. The only thing deeper than the pain we feel now is the love we will FOREVER have for you, create with angels and help design more wings”

Ms. Melyssa Jones

March 15, 1977 - June 30, 2024