Melanie Allen

In Loving Memory of Melanie-Meribah Allen

Melanie Allen, a longtime resident of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, passed away peacefully at sunset on Friday, August 14, 2026, in Mobile, Alabama. Melanie's final days were spent with friends and loved ones who supported her during a brief battle with brain cancer and honored her for the impact she had on their lives.

Born Melanie-Meribah Emerson Bailey Walters Wyatt Smith in Lewiston, Maine, on August 6, 1952, to Donald Gillette Smith and Marilyn June Cummings, she was raised by her grandparents, Harold George Cummings and Marion-Meribah Wyatt, in Palm Beach, Florida. She graduated from Palm Beach High School in 1970 where she was President of the National Quill & Scroll Honor Society, member of the Art Club, Chaplain of the Z Club, and Editor-in-Chief of The Frond newspaper.

At age 16, Melanie began her studies at Radcliffe (Harvard) College and was a rising star in Ladies Professional Golf Association before she married her college professor, Walter Lee Allen II. They soon settled in Mobile, Alabama, where they operated the House of the Sun atelier and welcomed their beautiful son Lee into the world. He is and always has been the joy of her life. Melanie built her own award-winning communication arts company, Cummings & Allen, which handled regional marketing, radio commercials, and jingles for widespread local brands. Some of her company logo designs are still used today.

In 1996, Melanie moved to Ocean Springs, Mississippi, got involved in a few non-profit organizations, and her passion for the Ocean Springs community began. Melanie Allen has a long history of impactful contributions to the city and spent three decades donating her time and talents to many community organizations and projects. She was a leader and member of the Historic Ocean Springs Association, the Public Arts Project of Ocean Springs, the Friends of the Mary C, the Land Trust of the Mississippi Coastal Plains, the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, local politics, co-founded the Oil Spill Volunteers with friend Don Abrams, served on the Ocean Springs Tree Committee, and most recently a board member of the Trent Lott International Airport.

Melanie was awarded a HOSA Hometown Heroes Award and presented the Key to the City of Ocean Springs by Mayor Shea Dobson. She was named Gulf Coast Caring Woman of the Year, and honored as Volunteer of the Year by the Land Trust organization and by The Friends of The Mary C. As the former Chair of the City Tree Protection Committee, Melanie has twice been a recipient of the Ocean Springs Tree Canopy Award and served on the Pascagoula River Audubon Center Advisory Board. Melanie worked with the City and with fellow Board members Derrick Charbonnet and Elaine Stevens in the development of The MaryC’s Culinary Arts Café. She wrote the successful Mississippi Bicentennial Celebration grant that brought us Chris Stebly’s “All One People” art installation. She organized the Porter Avenue Area Community Conversations Project over 2021-2022, which created a 65-page resource document that was presented to the City. Instrumental in commissioning artist Chris Stebly in 2023 to design and paint an original, colorful, three-paneled mural for Marshall Park.

Melanie served as President of the Board of Directors of the Land Trust of the Mississippi Coastal Plain and created the Artist in Residence Program at the Twelve Oaks property here in Ocean Springs. Her peers selected her to advocate before Congress on behalf of the Land Trust on conservation issues, and she was invited to speak to a congressional subcommittee on protecting charitable donations to promote land conservation. Melanie was one of eight artists and community leaders selected to participate in the “Creativity, Resilience and the Magic of Place” workshop to mark the MS Bicentennial on the Gulf Coast. They used documentary photography to capture their connection to the spirit of place in the community. Melanie traced the memory of Johanna Smith Blount (1830-1902), who purchased the 30-acre conservation property known as Twelve Oaks, while she was a slave.

On October 14, 2016, Melanie Allen married her “sweet pea” Susan Gulledge. It was not only a fun and beautiful wedding at The MaryC Cultural Center, but a tribute of love they had for each other.

Melanie's life will be remembered with gratitude, love, and affection for her passionate commitment to promoting the arts, conserving nature, protecting wildlife, investing in education, faith and dedication to St. John's Church, sense of humor and joie de vivre, love of family—especially her son Lee, and Susan, her beloved spouse and partner of 37 years—and championing and leading projects which greatly benefited the city of Ocean Springs and its citizens for years to come.

She was preceded in death by her parents, grandparents, and ex-husband Walter. She is survived by her spouse Susan Gulledge of Ocean Springs, her son Walter Lee Allen III of Ocean Springs and Tangier, Morocco, and granddaughter Sofia of New York and Tbilisi, Georgia.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, August 31, 2026, at St. John's Episcopal Church in Ocean Springs. Visitation will be from 12:00 to 2:00pm, with the service following in the sanctuary. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the Historic Ocean Springs Association, PO Box 552, Ocean Springs, MS 39566.

A celebration of life will be held in Ocean Springs at a later date.

The family of Melanie Allen wishes to thank the USA University Hospital, The Retreat, Saad's Inpatient Hospice, and Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Home for the excellent care she received, as well as all the people whose lives she has touched.

Bradford O’Keefe Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Melanie Allen.