MELODY HOLLAND LAWRENCE was raised in Live Oak County on the Holland home place near the intersection of Goynes Junction and Gamble Gulley. She attended school in George West, actively participating in sports, cheerleading, FHA, UIL Academics, 4-H, and Texas youth rodeo. Her roots run as deep as the live oaks of the Lewises of Oakville in Live Oak County and the mesas, prickly pear, and brush country of the Hollands of McMullen County.
After graduating from George West High School, Melody followed her uncle Billy Murray Holland, father Robert Holland, and sister Debbie Holland’s path to Aggieland, where she studied business management. She spent nine years in outside sales, followed by a thirty-year teaching career that was more suited to family life. She pursued her love of the arts while teaching language arts, coordinating the gifted and talented curriculum, and coaching UIL speaking and drama events.
As a teacher in McMullen County ISD, Melody initiated and served as the executive director of the first McMullen County Storyfest held at Choke Canyon State Park in Calliham, Texas. She brought the talents of noted storytellers Tim Tingle and Doc Moore, Live Oak County cowboy poet Johnny Campbell and storyteller Beto Lopez, and Jim Wells County vaquero storyteller Alejandro Solis to McMullen County.
Melody and her husband Donny reside in southern Atascosa County, where they raised their sons Dee and Cody. They now spend most of their time on the family ranch in McMullen County, as well as promoting the Cody Lawrence Memorial Calf Roping and Scholarship Fund and visiting family and friends in Live Oak County when they can.
