Gaynel Tenney Mellott

Gaynel (Leppert) Tenney Mellott, born on August 3, 1938, in Yatesboro, PA, passed away on March 8, 2025 in Akron, OH after a brave but brief fight with cancer. She is preceded in death by husbands Carl Norman Tenney and Donald Gene Mellott. She was the beloved daughter of George W. Leppert and Annie Elizabeth (Kelly) Leppert-Ayers, and stepdaughter of Nelson Ayers.

Gaynel is lovingly remembered and survived by her children: Carl Norman Tenney Jr. (Deborah) of Rochester, MN; Richard Paul Tenney (Julie) of Akron, OH; and David Carl Tenney (Connie) of Lakemore, OH. She was a cherished grandmother to thirteen grandchildren: James (Linda) Tenney, Kathryn (Ray) Adams, Matthew (Jennifer) Tenney, Allison (Jarod) Thorman, Emily Tenney, Angie (Fred) Romig, and Jennifer (Jeff) Hawkins. She was also a proud great-grandmother to 14 great-grandchildren, including Xander (Gloriana), Rayne, Elijah, and Annie Rae Adams, Dale Carlos "DC" (Alyssa), Trinity, Ariana "Onnie", Makayla Joy "MJ", and Declan Tenney, Anna Marie Hoskins, Ben Hawkins, Shelby, and Rylee Romig, and Grant Bennett Thorman.

Among her large family, she is survived by two of her twenty-five siblings: Helen Gertrude Jones of Minerva, OH, and Mary Catherine Havko of Nanty Glo, PA.

Calling hours will be held on Friday, March 14, 2025 at Newcomer Funeral Home, 131 N Canton Rd, Akron, OH 44305, from 5-8 PM. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 AM on Saturday, March 15, interment at Hillside Memorial Park 1025 Canton Rd. Akron, Ohio 44312.

Gaynel will be dearly missed by her family, friends, and all who had the privilege of knowing her. Her legacy of love, strength, generosity, tenacity, caretaking, and kindness will live on in the hearts of those she touched.

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