Melanie Kay Tallent

Melanie Kay Tallent, 55, died Friday, Oct. 11 from injuries sustained in a horse riding accident.
Melanie was a life-long lover of horses. She and her husband Gordon J. Lutz lived on a small farm along Pennsylvania's Brandywine Creek where she lovingly tended the two horses that earned her accolades in two equestrian sports, Dressage and Eventing. The accident that took her life occurred during a training session when she and her horse fell to the ground while jumping a cross country obstacle.
Over her 25 year professional career Melanie was a pioneering neuroscientist, first as an academic with an NIH-funded research laboratory dedicated to treatment of neurological diseases. Over the past decade Melanie has been the Chief Scientific Officer of LifeSplice Pharma, a biotech firm she co-owned and co-founded with her husband, Gordon Lutz. Melanie was tireless and unrelenting in her career devoted to improving the lives of patients with diseases such as epilepsy and ALS.
Melanie received her PhD in neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania in 1995, BS in chemistry from Tennessee Technological University in 1986, and diploma from William Blount High School in 1982. She was an amateur ornithologist. She grew beautiful dahlias and made banana pudding. She made regular visits to her family home in Maryville. She advocated for human rights.
Melanie is mourned by the equestrian community of southeastern Pennsylvania, by her colleagues in the field of neurological research, and by her family and friends. She was preceded in death by her father Robert K. Tallent and her mother-in-law Velma H. Lutz and was immediately followed in death by her father-in-law Chester G. Lutz. In addition to her husband Gordon, Melanie is survived by her mother Marselle Stewart Tallent of Maryville, TN; sister Marcia Tallent; sister and brother-in-law Nancy and Mark Coleman; brother and sister-in-law Kyle and Penny Tallent;2 brothers Jeff Tallent and Mark Tallent; brothers-in-law and their wives Gregory and Melanie Lutz and Norman and Michele Lutz. She is also survived by 3 nieces, 9 nephews, 2 great nephews and 3 great nieces.
Gordon and family will welcome friends to a Memorial Gathering to Celebrate the Life of Melanie Tallent on Saturday, November 16th from 1 pm to 3 pm at the beautiful home and horse farm of our friends and near-neighbor, Tom and Janet Kenny at 380 Beagle Club Rd. West Chester, PA 19382. We request that there be no flowers. Donations in Melanie's memory may be made to the CURE Epilepsy Foundation (https://www.cureepilepsy.org/get-involved/donate/) or the ALS Hope Foundation (https://www.alshf.org/donate). Please direct all correspondence to Gordon by email at gordon.lutz@yahoo.com and use the RE: MKT Memorial. Arrangements entrusted to Murray A. Miller with Reynolds Funeral & Cremation Services, Inc., Quarryville, PA.To send an online note of condolence, please visit our website at reynoldsfuneralhome.net.