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My name is Melissa Spell and I would like to share a little bit of information with you about my life, and why I'm working with Henson-Novak Funeral Homes.

I am a lifelong resident of Boise City, Oklahoma, where I received my education in K-12 at Boise City Public School District, along with graduating there in 1988.

Next, I went to college at Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Oklahoma where I earned my degree of Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education in 1997, with only a few credit hours short of having a double major.

Then, I started my teaching career in Keyes, Oklahoma, and am currently teaching in my hometown of Boise City with 23 years of teaching experience, and still going strong!

God blessed me with two amazing children, Justin and Destiny Spell, a wonderful son-in-law, Matthew Kell who is married to my daughter, and two awesome grandchildren Ely & Kynlee Spell. I am very fortunate because they all live in Boise City as well, and all of them are my heart and soul!

Now, I would like to share with you a short version of my testimony of why I am working with Hensen-Novak Funeral Homes...

I have always been a Daddy's Girl, and my heart stopped beating the day he passed away. My son called me early on the morning of May 1, 2019 asking me if I would check on grandpa.  He said Grandpa Pat is alongside the highway on 287 South of Boise City and outside of Kerrick, OK, and I think he might be having heart issues. My heart sank like it had never sunk before! So my grandson and I flew down 287 in my car looking for him. I kept having memories of him racing through my head of when he was having his first heart attack in 1987. As we got closer, about fifteen miles south of Boise City, which seemed like forever, I finally seen him. As we got closer I felt like he had already passed away because I couldn't feel his presence, which was such a weird feeling. So, I told Ely, my grandson, to keep playing his computer game, and do not get out of the car, on this busy highway, no matter what. I was instantly in shock as I walked across the highway to check on my dad. I started calling his name and hitting on the window of the pickup. I couldn't get the door unlocked so I looked in the back of his pickup and found a huge wrench. I grabbed it and rushed to the passenger side and hit, and hit on the side window because I didn't want the broken glass to hurt him. I couldn't break it, so I called my son crying and crying, while trying to be calm! He told me he would call the ambulance and there is a spare set of keys in the gas tank. I had always known that, but at the moment I couldn't think straight, everything was blurry, and I just wanted to save my dad. As soon as I opened the door,  I kept crying and holding his hand, while I was standing on the white line of the highway. I would occasionally look over at my grandson to make sure he was still in the car. It seemed like forever until the ambulance finally got there, but they did. Our  local sheriff arrived on the scene first. He put  the pickup in gear, and pulled my dad out of the pickup in the lane of traffic, and pulled him behind the pickup. He immediately started performing CPR on him.  I remember telling him I think he's already gone. However. I kneeled down beside my dad, holding his hand, while Officer Mike was performing CPR on him until the ambulance finally  arrived. I didn't notice my dad's foot was on the brake the whole time, and realize that Officer Mike put the pickup in park, and turned the key off, which meant that he barely pulled over in time before he had a massive heart attack. and passed away.