Christopher Douglas Melko
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Christopher Douglas Melko passed away on April 8th, 2021 at the age of 51 at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City, OK. He is survived by his parents, Sherry L. Yundt and Edward M. Melko; his brothers, Steve R. Melko and Tim A. Melko; his stepsiblings, Kim Bailey and Scott Bailey; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Chris was born on July 10th, 1969 at the West Point Military Academy in West Point, NY. He was a kind, gentle, and caring man whose passions in life were both childlike and simple, which led to the development of a wide variety of hobbies and pastimes. As a child, he found excitement in LEGO, jigsaw puzzles, books, and music. He developed an interest in drumming and joined the high school band the moment he became eligible. He would have wanted you to know that his favorite color was red, favorite food was pizza, and favorite hairstyle was 'just plain messy'.
As time moved on, so did his passions. He left the drums behind in favor of a few new hobbies like collecting a vast home movie library, bowling, playing darts, pool, video games, and of course, singing karaoke! At an early age, Chris was enthralled by the music from the 70s & 80s, but none more so than Pink Floyd. His love and appreciation of their music had a major impact on his life. He saw things like combs and non-Pink Floyd shirts as optional in life.
His first and most favorite job was working at the Oklahoma City Zoo with his father, Ed Melko, and stepbrother, Scott. He also had a mechanical mind which led him to earn an Associates of Arts in Lithography with a major focus in Offset Printing. As printing technologies changed, Chris became adept in retail services employment and had a long, productive career working for 7-Eleven and Walmart, respectively. He had a great deal of pride in things being orderly and accurate, with spot-on inventories and perfectly faced shelves, his passion was present in everything he did.
Being very much an 80s kid and, having the interest and education in mechanical systems, he fostered one of his most passionate pursuits: collecting and restoring old pinball & arcade machines. He was quite proud of achieving a high score in Pacman, hitting the 1,000,000-point mark. In 2012, he helped found the DFW Pinball & Arcade club which now has over 2,400 pinball and arcade enthusiasts.
In 2016, he moved to Del City, OK, where he spent his remaining years helping care for his mother Sherry Yundt, Aunt Rosetta Stroud, and his cat Tiberius.