Melanie Sue Pavlet

Melanie Sue Pavlet 1941 - 2025

Melanie Sue Pavlet, 83, of Goodyear, AZ died peacefully in her sleep on January 2, 2025. She was born on July 28, 1941, in East St. Louis, IL, the daughter of John and Sophie (Jerich) Babich. Melanie was a 1958 graduate of Moline High School in Moline, IL. She married Robert Lee Pavlet on June 22, 1963, and had been a resident of Arizona since 1970, living in Tucson, Yuma, Fountain Hills, Buckeye and Goodyear.

Melanie was a remarkable woman and a mother to all of her children and stepchildren (the “children of her heart” as she always said). She was blessed by a large family that filled her heart with love and pride, including two sons, Brian Pavlet (Lisa), of Goodyear, AZ, and Steven Pavlet (Jennifer), of Salinas, CA, as well as three step- children, Susan Johnson (Bruce Paton), of Tucson, AZ, Mark Pavlat (Marianne), of Dix Hills, NY, and Kurt Pavlat (Roseanne), of Idaho Falls, ID. Melanie is also survived by her sisters, Donna Trausch of Tucson, AZ, and Becky van Zyl of Palo Alto, CA, plus nine grandchildren, Ethan, Alexandra, Zane, Tyler, Kaitlyn, Lauren, Christopher, Robert, Christina, as well as six great-grandchildren. Her parents, husband, and brother, Greg Babich, preceded her in death.

Melanie enjoyed typing and editing manuscripts while employed by Margaret Carmichael (the owner of acclaimed racehorse Secretariat), working at the Yuma County Library, and administering operations at MCO Realty in Fountain Hills, AZ. She was very involved in her children’s sports, serving as Secretary for Cactus Little League in Tucson and managing concessions with Yuma Babe Ruth. She was an avid reader, a great cook and baker, would fish and camp, and was a student of Serbian history and genealogy. She was a talented artist, a mean bowler, and loved music, with probably her greatest joy in swing dancing with her husband Robert.

Melanie leaves us with a favorite Eskimo proverb:

Perhaps they are not the stars...

But rather opening in Heaven...

Where the love of our lost ones pours through...

And shines down upon us...

To let us know they are happy...

To which Melanie added her own ending: “And they send their love down to us – to surround us, to comfort us, to protect us and to guide us...”