Melissa Vaughn

by Charles McGuigan 04.2026

28 March 1979-29 January 2026

On January 29, the bells of Richmond’s psyche tolled loud and long for the passing of one of her most beloved daughters, Melissa Vaughn. After a valiant battle with cancer, she was plucked from life after just 46 years, but each day she lived, from birth onward, was full to the brim. 

Melissa was an inexplicable force of nature, the likes of which the world has seldom seen. She stood firm against injustice of every kind and defended the marginalized, could not abide a punk-ass bully.  These traits were with her from a very early age. As she recalled, not long ago, “I went for the bully. That was my thing. I had a really strong sense of justice. So I would get in trouble for that, but my parents didn’t get me in trouble for that. They were proud of me for sticking up for the little guy. I even stood up against teachers and I got punished for standing up, but I didn’t give a rat’s patoot.”

At a very early age, Melissa began a life long infatuation with politics. When she was just eleven years old she discovered channel 57 which airs live Richmond City Council meetings. These broadcasts would become the young Melissa’s “soap operas,” which she would follow from week to week. 

After graduating in 1997 from Manchester High School in Chesterfield County, Melissa attended Longwood College in Farmville where she studied history and political science, but left after her freshman year and returned to the Richmond area. 

It was just a year later that Melissa would meet her lifelong soulmate. “I met Melissa and instantly fell in love with her,” said Jerry Vaughn. Six months later he proposed, and the pair were married on June 26, 1999.

It was during one of Melissa’s first full-time jobs where she served as office manager with a temp agency that some of her natural gifts began to emerge. She had the uncanny ability of directing people without imposing an air of superiority, and could steer them in ways that benefited themselves and others.

Some years ago, Melissa began volunteering with WRIR where she developed a program called RVA Dirt, which was a sort of watchdog of local politicians. And for six years she produced Municipal Mania which featured politicians, from local school board members all the way up  to congressional representatives. She was a civic engagement activist and a fierce defender of the First Amendment.

Melissa was the volunteer of volunteers at an all-volunteer radio station, and she had the stamina of a lumberjill.  She remained volunteer coordinator for five years, implementing many changes. At that time, as the sort of de facto station manager, she was working forty hours a week for free.

As volunteer coordinator, Melissa served on the board of the Virginia Center for Public Press  (VCPP) and began scrutinizing every aspect of the station, and came to several conclusions, one of which was that WRIR needed a permanent home that it owned. That new home would also have to be ADA compliant, and its studios would need to be properly outfitted. In January of 2020 she became president of the VCPP,  and hit the ground running.

Hours after 2020 came to a close, on the very first morning of that new year, as Melissa stood in her shower, she performed a breast self-exam. Her fingers found a lump in the soft tissue of her right breast.

A couple weeks later, her gynecologist ordered a mammogram and an ultrasound, which was followed up with a biopsy. On February 11 Melissa learned that she had an aggressive form of breast cancer. 

She had a bilateral mastectomy, along with rigorous chemo and radiation therapy, but through it all Melissa worked tirelessly for WRIR.

In early 2022, Melissa and her past vice president found a building in Shockoe Bottom that would be ideal for WRIR’s permanent home. Located at 1806 East Main Street, the three-story building was a shell, but just recently after a massive renovation and re-outfitting it is WRIR’s new home, a lasting tribute to MelissaVaughn.

After living most of her life in Richmond, Melissa was ready to get out of the city and put down roots in the country. Her hopes and plans for the next chapter of her life were to find the serenity she had always sought on a farm, surrounded by her beloved animals—Shetland ponies, miniature Highland cows, rescue dogs, and the like.  On the farm Melissa also wanted to grow vegetables and make baked goods, maybe even sell them on the side of the road.  She loved to bake, and in true Melissa-style, she made cakes that were magical combinations of diverse flavors.   

Melissa is survived by Jerry Vaughn III, her spouse; George Weistroffer, her partner; Kathleen and Michael Martin, her parents; Nancy Larder, her grandmother; Linda Williams, Betsy Huggins, and Chris Wellesley, her aunts; Emmett, Clover, Zelda, Tetra, and Orson, her dogs; and Momo, Gandalf, Mona (Saperstein), Elwood, and Sadie, her cats. 

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to WRIR. Melissa gave so much of herself to the station and to our community, this is what she would have wanted. To donate to Your Community Radio Station, please visit https://www.wrircampaign.org/