Melinda Carol Kohn, 74, of Macungie, died Feb. 21, 2022, in Allentown. She was the wife of Donald J. Kohn. This coming May, they would have celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary. Born in Philadelphia, she grew up in Penns Grove, N.J., where she worked the cash register at her father’s store. Her gift with numbers and complicated formulas led her to become a mathematician and eventually, a computer programmer.

She was the first woman to work as a technical manager at AT&T’s prestigious Bell Laboratories. Her real passion professionally came when she was appointed as ombudsperson at AT&T and eventually Lucent and Agere. She loved helping workers find voice, power and justice within the corporate machinery.

She and her husband were the most LGBTQ supportive parents in the entire Lehigh Valley. They founded and supported numerous LGBTQ organizations in the area, including staffing the PFLAG phone for many years, helping many other parents try to become a fraction as wonderful as them.

After retirement in 2000, she continued to be of service to those in need – primarily through handicrafts. She sewed colorful uplifting pillowcases for domestic violence survivors, knit blankets with finger puppets on them for children placed in foster care and crocheted hundreds of matching pink scarves for an LGBTQ rights parade.

She loved butter. Not just any butter, but a particular very thick, very yellow, very fragrant raw butter. She spread it on everything and, no, she didn’t die of a heart attack (it was cancer). She loved to say that after taking a bite, if you couldn’t see your teeth marks in the butter you clearly didn’t use enough.

She is survived by her husband; a daughter, Sally; a daughter-in-law, Sarah Hansen; a granddaughter, Willa Hansen-Kohn; a brother, Sid Schnell and his wife, Barbie, of Wilmington, Del.; many others.

Contributions may be made to the Sixth Street Shelter, Allentown.

Services are private. Arrangements were made by the Bachman, Kulik & Reinsmith Funeral Home, Allentown.