Melody Burns Obituary, Death – After a three-year battle with illness, Melody Burns, a former local radio host, Second Amendment rally organizer, and longtime veterans advocate, passed away this past week. According to Paul Vandenburgh, the proprietor of WGDJ station, Burns hosted a consistent afternoon program on Talk 1300 from approximately 2012 to 2014.
She also assisted in the organization of rallies against the state’s SAFE Act, gun control legislation that was implemented in 2013. Additionally, she served as an emcee. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, she also organized a pro-police rally at the Capitol.
However, the work that appeared to most closely relate her to the community was on behalf of the military. In 2014, Burns assumed the role of director of operations at Veterans Miracle Center, a storefront located at 10 Interstate Ave. in Colonie. The center provides veterans and military personnel with the opportunity to acquire new products at no cost. Burns stated in 2019, “I was only intended to assist in its inception; however, I remain present.”
“Our veterans deserve the best, as they risked their lives for us.” In 2016, she was also recognized as the Albany County Citizen of the Month. The announcement of her award noted that she organized a holiday card campaign for troops in 2015, which resulted in the distribution of 150,000 cards.
In May, she announced that she was seeking volunteers to assist in the placement of flags on the graves of veterans at Cavalry Cemetery on Route 9W in Bethlehem for Memorial Day, despite her ongoing battle with cancer that had recurred. Melody D. Burns, Idea Practitioner, was a limited liability corporation that Burns ran from Bethlehem.
She was born in Ogdensburg and raised there. According to her LinkedIn profile, she began her employment at Talk 1300 in 2009. She stated that she had a program called “Women IN” at one time, which was broadcast on Fridays and “centered on the efforts of women to surpass the glass ceiling and beyond.”
Vandenburgh stated that Burns was a private individual at work; however, he recalls the moment when he was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2012 and was informed by a physician that he would not survive beyond five or six years. “She was among the first individuals to declare, ‘I would not listen to him,'” Vandenburgh recollected on Sunday. “She comprehended the subject matter.”
Regrettably, Burns would become too familiar with the disease when her spouse, Victor Olivett, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Before his passing in 2019, she documented his final months on her personal Facebook page. In 2021, she was diagnosed with vulvar cancer, a rare strain that affects fewer than 20,000 women annually. In 2022, she posted on Facebook, “Cancer is affecting an inordinate number of us in some capacity.”
“When you send a birthday card to an individual, include a note that requests that they be screened.” We do not discuss cancer until it affects us or our loved ones. I am a survivor of cancer, having lost my husband to the disease and then surviving it myself. I hope that individuals would screen for it earlier.
She candidly discussed the persistent discomfort she experienced on her Facebook page earlier this spring, despite her efforts to combat the disease through a variety of remedies since its recurrence in 2023. She stated that she was compelled to resign from her position at the Veterans Miracle Center within the past year.
Vandenburgh stated that Burns informed him approximately six weeks ago that she was required to enter hospice care and that her son, who resides in Florida, would be present to provide her with care. Debby Goedeke, a former vice president at Empire Travel Services, disclosed on Facebook that Burns had recruited her to serve as an escort for Patriot Honor Flight, an event that recognized Vietnam veterans with a visit to Washington, D.C.