Melissa Marie Mealer-Lambert

Melissa Marie Mealer-Lambert, age 41, of Groom, Texas, died on Monday, November 1 in Groom.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, November 6 at 11am at First Baptist Church in Groom, with Pastor Andy Dietz officiating. A celebration of life will follow at Groom Legion Hall on West 3rd Street with everyone welcome. Arrangements are by Schooler Funeral Home.

Melissa was born June 4, 1980 in Texas City, Texas. From an early age she was a natural and magnetic performer, and as the youngest of three siblings would often employ this skill to maximum effect to glean attention and escape trouble. As a student at MacArthur High School in San Antonio Melissa fell in love with the stage, performing in school and interscholastic productions and later studied theater at Wharton County Junior College. In 2003 she took her Texas-size gumption to New York City and pursued acting, moving into her brother’s old apartment the size of a family sedan. However, it was after returning to Austin a couple of years later that she discovered cosmetology, a discipline that utilized her true calling of finding beauty in others.

In June 2008, while at a wedding in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, Melissa met Tom Lambert of Groom and a storybook love affair ensued. Within months she’d joined him on the high plains, a city girl suddenly surrounded by farm trucks and gas rigs to help him raise his two young boys which she took as her own. They married in October 2009 and in September 2012 welcomed a daughter, Maggie Pearl. Many in the community knew Melissa through her salon in Groom, the Hair Garage, and by her energetic involvement in Groom city council, local charities, and her beloved First Baptist Church choir. She loved and championed her adopted town and they returned the adoration, charmed by her slapstick humor, goofy jokes and impressions, and the way she made each person she met feel special and valued. Her capacity for joy was unbound.

Melissa is survived by her husband, Tom Lambert, and three children, Cayden, Liam, and Maggie; her parents Bobby and Sharon Mealer of San Antonio; two siblings, Marci Mealer of San Antonio and Bryan Mealer of New York City; and twelve nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Melissa’s Helping Hands Fund through her sorority, Alpha Mu Xi (Venmo @amxgroom).