Julie Anne Melnyk, 53, of Columbia, died peacefully at her home on Friday, Dec. 22, 2017, having been diagnosed exactly one year earlier with incurable pancreatic cancer.

She will be cremated, and her ashes deposited at Columbia Cemetery in a ceremony for immediate family. There will also be a celebration of her life, at a time to be determined in the new year, at which everyone who knew her will be most welcome.

Julie was born April 6, 1964 in Tampa, Fla. She was educated at Haverford College, Oxford University, and the University of Virginia, where she earned a PhD.

A devoted wife and mother, Julie was also a much-loved scholar and teacher of English literature first at Central Methodist University and later at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her life story is told at https://melnyka.wixsite.com/julie-melnyk/about-julie.

She is survived by her husband of 29 years, Andrew; their two children, Stefan and Christopher; her sister, Amy Quezon Wilde; and her mother, Faye Peavyhouse.

She was predeceased by her father, Russell Keith Peavyhouse, and by all her grandparents.