It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Melba Lou, 89 years old.

She went to Freeport Highschool and graduated from Elkhart, Tx.

Melba's hobbies included growing flowers, gardening, cooking, baking, making wedding cakes, sewing, traveling, & camping. She loved spending time with family & her TOPS group.

For her daughter's store, Melba enjoyed making wreaths, specialty jellies, pumpkin bread, date/cherry cake, and fruit cake. People often came in the store, asking for the "Melba Lou" jelly and would call ahead of time, asking for her cakes and pumpkin bread.

She was very proud of her family's military service. Garland was in the Navy, David, Wayne, & Christopher in the Army, and Larry in the Marines.

Melba is survived by:

Willard Garland Stansel, husband of 71 years

Sons: David & Larry Stansel

Daughters: Connie (Barry) Dunn, & Suzy (John) Potts

Grandchildren: Caleb (Sara) Stansel, Travis Stansel, Heather Allen - Stansel, Carey, Christopher, & Nicholas Dunn, Jasmine (Rodney) Strother, Chadd (Tori) Potts, Blake (Tiffany) Potts, & Megan Potts (Morgan Barclay)

Great grandchildren: Jasea, Trent, & Jarrett Stansel; Lavius & Asher Stansel; Lacy, Triston, & Holden Stansel; Aaron & Alexander Strother; Emma Potts; and Avery Potts

Brother: Ken (Robbie) Shipper

Many nephews and nieces.

She was preceded in death by her son Wayne Stansel and grandsons Brandon & Ricky Stansel.

She was greatly loved and will be missed by many.

Melba's Celebration of Life will be September 30th, at their home.

We appreciate all of your prayers.

Our Mom, Melba Stansel

Mothers show love in different ways. We were blessed to have a mother that took great care of her 5 kids. She took us to church, and whether we were sick, in the hospital, or had broken bones...she seemed to know what to do.

We may not have been rich, but we always had good food and clothes. She sewed school & play clothes, coats, pajamas, and her daughters' prom & wedding dresses.

I can't say enough about her cooking. It may not have been the fanciest, but it was GOOD. I suspect I had a few friends that came over just for her cooking. There were lots of vegetables (many grown out of her garden) and good meat from Grandma's farm. When a certain grandchild ate Granny's food, he hummed. Mom would smile from ear to ear because she knew he was enjoying her cooking. She made birthday cakes, not just for us, but also for some of the neighborhood kids. She even made and decorated our beautiful wedding cakes.

Almost every year we'd go on camping trips (the "roughing it" kind), and she fished, camped, and cooked like a pro.

Thanks for all that you did.

We love you MOM