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Melody Lynn (Ard) Spurney, 45, Wichita, died Thursday, January 18, 2024. She was born March 27, 1978, to Nick and Naomi Ard in Wichita. She attended Maize public schools, where she was active in yearbook and gymnastics. She graduated from Maize High School in 1996. She then attended the University of Kansas, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 2000. She married Blake Spurney on May 27, 2000, and the couple moved to Gainesville, Georgia, to begin their new lives together. Melody worked as a copy editor at The Times of Gainesville for three years. In 2003, Blake and Melody moved to Clayton, Georgia, and Melody became editor of The Highlander in Highlands, North Carolina. She was named executive director of the Newton Convention and Visitors Bureau in 2014. She joined the staff at Riordan Clinic as a content marketing coordinator.
Melody had a passion for food and trying new dishes, and she and Blake enjoyed meal-planning and cooking together. They went on many adventures chasing cheeseburgers, traveling to historical sites, attending baseball games and camping in the great outdoors. She established a lasting reputation for playing hostess to her mountain friends. She was a ray of sunshine to those who knew her and brought joy to those around her.
Survivors include: her husband, Blake, of Wichita; her parents, Nick and Naomi Ard of Montrose, Colorado; her brother, Kevin Ard and husband Ole-Petter Hamnvik of Winchester, Massachusetts; a niece, Arden Rogers; and three nephews, Pierson Rogers, Jasper and Silas Hamnvik-Ard.
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