Quenemo - Melissa Dawn Shields, 45, passed away on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at Advent Health in Ottawa, Kansas. She was born on September 28, 1979, in Ottawa, Kansas, the daughter of James and Donna (Green) Meek.

Melissa had lived most of her life in the Quenemo Community. She graduated from Marais des Cygnes Valley High School in 1998.

Melissa had worked as a waitress in high school and college, worked for Grapevine Internet as a Tech Rep and had worked several years at Marais des Cygnes Valley Elementary School. She had started as a Para with Three Lakes and then became the librarian and IT technician for the school. She had been a volunteer firefighter and worked with Osage County Emergency Management. She was a member of the Quenemo United Methodist Church and had always helped with the Quenemo Penny Suppers.

On December 19, 2004, Melissa was united in marriage to Paul Shields at the Michigan Valley Community Church.

Melissa was preceded in death by her parents, James and Donna.

Melissa is survived by her husband, Paul of 20 years; by her son, Joshua Shields of Herington; by her stepdaughter, April Shields; by her brother, Jim Meek of Spring Hill; and by her sister, Dee Dinkle of Independence, Missouri.

Funeral services for Melissa will be held at 11:00am on Friday, April 18 at the Feltner Funeral Chapel in Lyndon. Burial will be in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Quenemo. The family will receive friends from 6:30 to 8:00pm on Thursday at the funeral home. Memorial contributions in memory of Melissa may be made to Marais des Cygnes Valley Elementary School, sent in care of Feltner Funeral Home, 818 Topeka Avenue, Lyndon, KS 66451.