Ira Lee Northrup Meller was born in Higgins, TX on July 15, 1932, to Ira Emanuel and Hazel Leona Fox Northrup.  She grew up on the family farm in southwest Ellis County near the Canadian River.  Ira Lee attended the Bishop school through her growing years.  On February 15, 1949, she married David Meller at the Methodist Church in Arnett, OK.  This joining was originally scheduled to take place on Valentine's Day, but Mother Nature blew in a large snowstorm that year preventing the couple from traveling to town.  To this union were born 3 children:  Leona Marie on October 31, 1949, Glenn Grant on October 29, 1950, and Cynthia Velda on June 23, 1961.  Dave and Ira Lee made their home northwest of Arnett on the farm until 1960, at which point they moved into Shattuck building a home where they would finish out their days.  For 22 years Ira Lee cooked and fed 3 hot meals to the Meller custom harvest crew of at least 10 members.  When she was not cooking for the crew, she toted their laundry to the nearest town to ensure they had clean clothes.  During those years they traveled cutting wheat and other crops from southern Oklahoma up through the Bible Belt into Canada.  Ira Lee first began working outside the home at Kough's Department store.  She then completed 17 and a half years at Newman Memorial Hospital working in the Medical Records Department, retiring in 1997.  Membership and service of the St. Paul Congregational church began upon marriage to Dave and lasted a lifetime.  Ira Lee created a legend with her skilled cooking, sewing to perfection, growing productive gardens and some of the most gorgeous flowers in Ellis County in addition to providing care for her grandchildren and great grandchildren along the way.  Ira Lee gained her eternal life and joined her Savior on February 6, 2023.  She is preceded in that journey by her husband, father, mother, 4 brothers Billy, Kenny, Ira Jr, and Dean, and a son in law, Roger Bush.  Ira Lee is survived by her sister Colleen Schaeffer of Canyon, TX, Daughter Leona and husband Clark Blair of Wheeler, TX, Son Glenn and wife Mary Sue Meller of Shattuck, Daughter Cindy Troyer of Johnston, Iowa, 8 Grandchildren including 6 girls and 2 boys, 16 Great Grandchildren consisting of 9 girls and 7 boys, as well as a host of nieces, nephews, and so many others whose lives she touched.

Memorials may be made to the:

Shattuck Memorial Cemetery

or the

Lone Tree Cemetery

C/O Shaw Funeral Home

P.O. Box 276, Vici, OK 73859.