Grace Johnson Melton

GRACE MAXINE JOHNSON MELTON, resident of Memphis and wife of the late Rev. Horace K. Melton, longtime United Methodist Minister in West Tennessee, died at 5:30 A.M. Friday, November 9, 2007 at the Quince Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Memphis where she had resided for 2 weeks. She was 84 years of age and died following an extended illness of several months.

Funeral services for Mrs. Melton were conducted graveside at 1 P.M. Monday, November 12th with Methodist Minister, Rev. Robert Cole, officiating. Interment followed in the Melrose Cemetery at Whiteville. Arrangements were provided by Peebles Fayette County Funeral Home-Main Chapel.

Mrs. Melton was born August 22, 1923 in Carthage, Mississippi, the daughter of the late Albert Martin Johnson and Pattie Lee Chipley Johnson. She was educated in the Mississippi Public School system and was married November 14, 1942 to Rev. Horace Melton of Whiteville who died August 3, 1990. She served as a pastor's wife in numerous communities in West Tennessee for many years during her husband's appointments. She was a lifelong Methodist and was a member of the Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Memphis at the time of her death. She was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother throughout her lifetime.

She is survived by her daughter, Jo Anne Theobald (Stephen) and her brother George F. Johnson, both of Olive Branch, MS; two grandchildren, Tara Ellis (Donald) of Olive Branch and Clint Theobald (Catherine) of Chesapeake, VA and two great-granddaughters, Katie Ellis and Kristen Theobald.

Honorary casketbearers were George Johnson, Stephen Theobald, Donald Ellis and Jerry Piper.

The family request that Memorials be directed to the Church Health Services Foundation, 1210 Peabody Avenue, Memphis, TN 38104.