Melita (Paberzs) Vedejs

Melita (Paberzs) Vedejs passed away peacefully in her home in Chelsea, MI on May 11, 2025.  She was born on March 14, 1941, in Tukums, Latvia, in the middle of World War II. The Paberzs family of Lina and her 4 children (Father Janis was taken away to dig trenches for the Germans) was fortunate to barely escape both Nazi invasion and Soviet occupation. After the war, Lina and Janis were reunited and the family spent 4 years in a refuge displacement camp in Anspach before they emigrated to the United States when Melita was nine. The family was sponsored by First Baptist Church of Forest City, NC, to come to America, arriving via Ellis Island. She learned the language, became a US citizen and then a standout student, athlete, artist and friend to many.

Melita continued her education at the University of Michigan, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. There she met and married Edwin Vedejs, also a Latvian immigrant and eventually a world-renowned chemist.  They divorced in 1976. Melita’s artistic talents and eye for beauty helped her earn a Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After teaching art at Madison Area Technical College, she eventually became Art Director for Mueller Sports Medicine, Inc., in Prairie du Sac, WI.

She was preceded in death by parents Janis and Lina Paberzs, sister Lilija Allison and brother Miervaldis “Bill” Paberzs.  Melita is survived by her sister, Dagmara Cowan (Gaylord) and her children, Michael “Mike” Vedejs and Christi Mersereau (Jacques), and many nieces, nephews and their children, who adore her.

Melita loved all of nature and spent days on the shores of Lake Superior hunting for agates.

She was smart, witty and fun. She had an infectious smile that lit up the room. Melita had a fiery personality that enabled her to accomplish great things, including being a National Merit Scholarship Finalist and a talented Painter. Melita loved gardening and planting flowers and was into camping and the outdoors. She adored and was devoted to her children and made many sacrifices for them. Even towards the end of her life as her health failed, she made and brought Mike and Christi lunch every day at their bicycle shop in Manchester, MI. She was an incredible, strong woman who will be missed by everyone whose lives she touched.