Melissa Maddock ~ Class of 1983 & 1984
Departed ~ 12/15/2019
Sep 23, 1965 – Dec 15, 2019
Melissa MacHale Bastian of Tampa died in her sleep of heart failure on December 15, 2019 after 54 years of an exciting, rewarding, and wide-ranging life. Daughter of Janet Laurie Crampton and Lt Col Michael Maddock (USAF, Retired) Melissa’s first three years were spent in London, England followed by a year in Virginia and another in Fort Worth, Texas with her baby brother Michael.
She really blossomed during the next five years in Hawaii. She stood out among the Hawaiian and Asian-American children as the most talented Hawaiian dancer and excellent soccer, swimming, and gymnastics athlete. Her sister Tricia was born in 1972 and Melissa loved chasing her on the beautiful beaches of Oahu.
At the age of 10 Melissa quickly adapted to life in California. She took on all challenges. She won the local Jerry Lewis charity SKATE-A-THON, by roller skating for 24 hours. Her donors were shocked at how much they owed to the charity. She followed up by competing in the McDonald’s charity bike race finishing second to a semi-professional racer. She asked the winner if he was going to race next year, trying to convince him not to so she could win. Melissa continued to develop as an excellent athlete playing on youth soccer teams and actually pitching for the local boy’s Little League team. Finally, her biggest “accomplishment” was learning to wear shoes to school after five years of flip flops in Hawaii.
In 1978, her dreams came true with the family’s return to Hawaii for another 4 years. Unfortunately, life was tougher as a minority teenager in high school. She played high school soccer but was frequently bullied. In the long run, her experience in Hawaii made her a more empathetic and caring person towards minorities and people of color.
In contrast to Hawaii, Bangkok, Thailand was Melissa’s heaven on earth. She embarked on a modeling career of television ads, newspaper advertisements, film commercials, and movie videos. She was a good looking, blonde, American teenage girl loved by the Thai media for her entire 3 years in the Kingdom. It restored her self esteem and confidence that had been damaged in Hawaii. It gave her the personality and caring attitude she carried through her adult life.
In 1985, her father retired from the Air Force and the Maddock family returned to the US and settled down in Northern Virginia. Melissa entered the work force by working for two temporary-employment agencies. She did so well on one of her jobs, NEC bought out her contract making her a full time employee. Hard work led her, in 1997, to Lockheed-Martin in Washington, DC where she worked her way up to Manager of the Proposal Production department.
Melissa and Bart Bastian were married in 2000 and, following the birth of son Christopher in 2001, they relocated to Miami, Florida. Sean was born in 2004.
Following her divorce, Melissa was unable to find meaningful employment in Miami. Custom Manufacturing and Engineering (CME) in St Petersburg, Florida offered her a position as proposal manager and she relocated to Westchase, Tampa. She was a dedicated employee for nearly 15 years and felt very strongly that the people at CME were her extended family. Those feelings were reciprocated by her supervisors and fellow employees. A tribute to her years with CME can be found at their website www.custom-mfg-eng.com.
Melissa is survived by her two sons, Christopher, a freshman at Providence College, and Sean, a sophmore at IMG Academy. Her parents Laurie and Mike Maddock live in Spring Hill, FL. Melissa’s sister Tricia Kemper, husband Carlton, and daughters Laura Jane and Sarah, reside in Homewood, AL. Brother Michael and his wife Marti Giella are residents of Fairfax, Va. Melissa’s extended family includes aunts Pat Blanchard, Mary O’Toole, Valerie Rafferty Crampton, Leandra Maddock, and Patte Crampton. Col Richard Crampton (US Army, retired), Dr William Crampton, Kevin Maddock, and William O’Toole are Melissa’s uncles. Melissa had numerous other relatives in the Maddock, Chabot, Kemper, Blanchard, and O’Toole families. Finally, Melissa was blessed to be a member of the CME family. A Memorial service will be held in Tampa in the future at a time acceptable to her family and friends. Donations to St Jude’s Hospital in Melissa’s name would be preferred by the family.
Please send pictures (old and new), anecdotes, articles, stories and tributes to isbeings at gmail.com