Melinda Elizabeth (Snep) Wilson

Melinda Elizabeth (Snep) Wilson passed away on June 19th, 2025 at her home in Lexington, KY. She was 54 years old.  She was born July 13th, 1970 in Belleville, IL to Dennis and Marjorie Snep. She was the oldest of their 3 children.

She grew up in Belleville, IL (a suburb of St. Louis), and she went on to attend the University of Illinois, where she earned her Bachelor's degree in microbiology (class of 1992). She went on to attend graduate school at Loyola University (Maywood, IL) where she earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology.

In 1995, while still attending graduate school, she married Scott Wilson in Western Springs, IL (a suburb of Chicago). Scott and "Mel" met in college at the University of Illinois.

In 1997 she landed a post-doctoral research position at the University of Kentucky to further her pursuits within the physiological sciences. She stayed at UK for the remainder of her career, where she went on to become a tenured professor, Director of the Master of Science in Medical Sciences graduate program, and Vice Chair of the Department of Physiology. Lexington, KY became home for her and Scott, and they are blessed to have 2 beautiful children, Julia and Trevor.

Melinda is preceded in death by her father, Dennis Snep; her sister-in-law, Kimberly (Wilson) O’Brien; and her father-in-law, Donald Wilson. She is survived by her husband, Scott Wilson; her children, Julia and Trevor Wilson; her mother, Marjorie (Codemo) Snep; her brother and sister-in-law, Gary and Denise (Jelen) Snep; and her sister and brother-in-law, Allison (Snep) and Laef Lorton.

A celebration of life will take place at Clark Legacy Center on Saturday, July 19th from 1pm to 4pm, with a "Time of Sharing" to begin at 3pm. The location is 601 E Brannon Rd, Nicholasville, KY 40356.

In memory of Melinda’s impact as a researcher, mentor, and teacher, and her numerous contributions to the university, her department will be creating an annual lecture in her name. The lecture will be funded by the Department of Physiology Teaching Endowment Fund. If you would like to contribute to this fund in memory of Melinda, you can use the following link: https://give.uky.edu/campaigns/53576/donations/new?designation_id=0705210000&