Melisa L. (Knight-Biggs) Olheiser left to find her peace on March 11, 2019. She was born in Denver, Colo., February 3, 1976 to Ms. Faith A. Walton. Melisa lived in Wyoming until she was 9 years old, when in1985 they moved to Alaska. Melisa spent the next 22 years living on the Kenai Peninsula and Ketchikan. During those years she graduated from high school after emancipating herself at 16 years old. In 1994 her oldest daughter Deann was born, followed by Samantha in 1998. While in Alaska she worked for Glass Menders for several years and ended her time there with G. E. S., Inc. In May of 2007 Melisa made her way to Gillette, Wyo., and went to work for Peabody Energy for the next 5 years. During that time she also obtained her Master’s in Accounting. In 2013 Braelynn was born, making Melisa a grandmother. She loved her granddaughter dearly & put all she had into their relationship. She also met the love of her life, Keith Olheiser during that same year. She was on the move again to Dickinson. Keith & Melisa married in October of 2014. At the time of her death she was employed by Medora Corporation/Solar Bee as a Project Coordinator.
Melisa faced & overcame great diversity in her life. When she was down she had the ability to bounce back and reinvent herself. She was never afraid of a challenge & would never back down even if she was wrong. Her love & loyalty to family and friends’ was fierce. She had opinions and would give them to you, asked for or not. She talked a mile a minute & there were times you had to stop her so you could understand what she was saying. She was stubborn to a fault & would argue with you till she was blue in the face. Melisa loved & lived life to the fullest. She had a light in her soul that was infectious. She had the ability to bring an entire room together with her wit & beautiful smile. She had the ability to talk to anyone & accept them for who they were. Kind-Loyal-Beautiful-Quirky-Spunky are some of the words used to explain the essence of Melisa. If you knew her an hour you had a “Melisa Story.” She was goofy & playful trying to put on a happy face or at least hide the sad. There will forever be a darkness now that her light once illuminated. We will miss you more than words are able to express Melisa Lynn.
At the end of life what really matters. Is not what we bought, but what we have built, not what we got, but what we shared. Not our competence, but our character and not our success but our significance.
Melisa is survived by her husband Keith Olheiser; daughters, Deann Knight & Samantha Misteka; granddaughter Braelynn; sister, Jodi Staab; brother, Ryan Lance Staab; and everyone else who’s life was touched by her existence.
Memorial services will be held at Ladbury Funeral Service at 11 am, Saturday, March 16, 2019, with a fellowship to follow at 2657 Post Drive.
