Elizabeth Melck Puckett

Elizabeth Melck (“Libby”) Puckett, age 82, died in Durham on March 22, 2023. She was born on May 24, 1940, to the late Harold and Mary Eleanor (“Nell”) Melck.

Libby grew up in Cape Town, South Africa and on a farm in the western Cape region known as the Sandveld. As soon as she was able to sit up, she would greet everyone with a raised right hand, index finger pointing upward. This earned her the nickname “Liberty,” which would later become “Libby.”

In 1959, Libby joined the inaugural class of the physiotherapy program at the University of Cape Town. She graduated in 1962 and moved to London, where she worked while awaiting her U.S. visa. In 1964, Libby emigrated to the United States, arriving on the same plane that brought the Beatles to New York to perform on the Ed Sullivan show and begin their first U.S. Tour.

After arriving in the U.S., Libby lived in Cleveland, Ohio, where she worked at University Hospitals as a physical therapist and made several life-long friends. In 1969, she, her husband, and their first child moved to Washington, D.C., where she had another son and lived for almost 25 years. In 1976, on what she would later call the most important day of her life, she became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

During her professional career, Libby worked in public health at both the state and national levels. She was considered a prevention powerhouse by many public health leaders in North Carolina and across the country. In 1995, as part of her role at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, she worked to create and lead the Justus-Warren Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Task Force to tackle the inequities of cardiovascular disease across North Carolina. The task force achieved many considerable outcomes. Libby was most proud that it helped reduce North Carolina’s heart disease and stroke morbidity and mortality rates and played a key role in North Carolina’s smoke-free laws. During and long after her career, she mentored many current public health leaders across the state and country. In honor of her accomplishments, Governor Easley recognized her with The Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 2005, the highest civilian honor in the state of North Carolina.

Libby loved spending time with family and friends, gardening, arranging flowers, reading, creative writing, and watching Duke basketball.

Libby is survived by her sons, Christopher (Julie) Thomas and Andrew (Lauren) Bowman-Thomas; her step-daughters, Elizabeth “Betsy” (Mark) Dessauer and Emilie (Todd) Nicotra; and seven grandchildren: Oscar and Theo Dessauer, Josephine and Samuel Thomas, Emma and Andrew Nicotra, and Juniper Bowman-Thomas.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Andrew Clay Puckett, Jr., and her brother, Jonathan Melck.

A memorial service for Libby is planned for 3:00pm at Watts Street Baptist Church in Durham on June 16, 2023.

The family is under the care of Hall-Wynne Funeral Service. Online condolences: www.hallwynne.com – select obituaries.