The story of newlyweds Melanie Brockmier Jordy and David Jordy is a story of love, faith and tragedy. 

  • Melanie Brockmier Jordy's Operation Lotus born out of a dark time
  • Riverview-based Operation Lotus assists people in tough times
  • Operation Lotus
  • To nominate an Everyday Hero, please email  Michael.hardin@charter.com   

Melanie's first husband Leon died five years ago at age 33. 

"At the time he died, we had a 5-year-old boy and a 3-year-old boy," said Brockmier. "And on the morning of his funeral, I found out I was pregnant with our third baby." 

The world for this soon-to-be mother of three was all darkness. 

"I had no hope for our future," she said. "I was devastated for my children."

Time passed. 

And soon Melanie said she head from God. 

"He told me I needed to use my life for something bigger than all of this," she said, adding she knew exactly what that something was. "At that moment, the idea for Operation Lotus came to me in about 30 seconds.

"The name, the mission, everything that we were supposed to be doing." 

Her non-profit Operation Lotus is named for the flower that grows in muck and blossoms into something beautiful.  

"Our mission is to help restore hope for people who are going through a great loss, tragedy or catastrophic event." 

And then came David. 

"He gave us so much happiness," Brockmier said. "So much light in a time that was so, so dark."

The two married and created a new family with Melanie and her boys, Brodi, Carson and Noah and David and his daughter Taylor. 

But someone else is never forgotten. 

The boy's dad, Leon, a former football player with Northwestern University and the Pittsburgh Steelers, is remembered daily with a jersey hanging on the wall.