Melba Nance

Celebration of Life for Melba Leone (Gibson) Nance 

We are celebrating Melba's life today. She was 93 when she went home to be with the Lord, on May 20, 2025. Her friends and family will truly miss her. While living in Desloge, she became a member of the Elvins Baptist Church for many years. She was baptized in Elvins, Mo when she was 16 years old.

Melba was raised and went to school in Elvins, Mo. She always talked very lovingly about her childhood and being raised on a chicken hatchery farm. There, her family raised many chickens and abundant fruit trees and gardens. She also had many lifelong childhood friends with whom she stayed connected. They enjoyed each other's company and took many trips to Branson and Texas. Melba loved to travel and spent many winters in Texas near the Mexico border. She also liked taking her family camping and spent a lot of time at the rivers and Lakes of Missouri and Arkansas. She enjoyed riding 4-wheelers in St. Joe Park and loved being outdoors.

Melba loved gardening and canning. As we all know, she was an excellent cook. If you ever got to eat her sourdough biscuits, count yourself lucky; they were the best. Melba also loved entertaining and hosting holidays for her friends and family. Her house was an open door. Many of us here got to enjoy her hospitality.

As we all know, Melba loved to paint and was very artistic. She loved taking painting lessons with her sister, Gloria. Her and her sister were very close and had many good laughs together, as many of us know.

Melba loved antiques, and her house was full of them. Her house was always decorated really pretty, and her home always felt very warm and cozy.

Melba eventually moved to Springfield, Mo, to be closer to her family. At 84 years old, she was still mowing her lawn; she was very strong and independent.

Anyone who new Melba, knew she was a huge Elvis Presley fan. She was fortunate to see him live in St. Louis. I’m sure that was on her bucket list. She also loved Tom Jones and got to meet him backstage in Springfield, Mo. I remember her saying “he gave me the vapors.” We always had music playing on the turntable, especially on Saturday mornings while doing our chores. It made doing our work a little more fun.

She was a woman of unwavering love and kindness. Her heart was filled with compassion, and she touched countless lives with her warmth and generosity. Her influence on our lives will forever be felt. Her memory will be a source of comfort and inspiration for years and will forever be in our hearts.

So, this is a day of remembrance, love, and a celebration of life. It is also a day of homecoming. Heaven is our final resting place; our final goal is to be with our Lord. It is nice to know that she is in the hands of our Lord for eternity and until we meet again.

 Visitation will be held at C.Z. Boyer and Son Funeral Home in Desloge, Tuesday, May 27, 2025, from 12:30 PM until the Celebration of Life at 1:30 PM. Her nephew Andy Stricklin will be officiating. Interment will follow at St. Francois Memorial Park in Bonne Terre.