Evelyn Carlene Melton

Evelyn “Carlene” Melton, 87, devoted wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and sister, recently passed.

Carlene met her husband Kenneth on a blind date in 1954 and married the love of her life a few months later. They’ve been each other’s rock for 69 years. Carlene was the mother of 4 children… Kenny (Liz), Barbara, Terry, and Michael; 3 grandchildren… David (Angelica), Ginny, and Tori; and 2 great-grandchildren, Luis and Esmeralda (David). Carlene was also sister to Donald, Dorothy, Velma, Lee Warren, Rusty, Pam, Ginger, Carla, Katie, Jessie, Marcia, and Peggy. There was no questioning her love and dedication to her family.

Carlene loved growing plants, traveling, playing cards, coloring, watching soap operas and westerns, and talking and sharing stories of her life with anyone within ear shot. She could talk for hours… and the stories she could tell would have you laughing like you never laughed before.

We cannot talk about Carlene without mentioning her dedication to the Francis Howell High School music program. Known to hundreds of students as Ms. Melton or Momma Melton, she served in the Band Booster program from 1973 to 1983. She helped organize all the major band trips during that time, notably organizing the Marching Vikings to march at the 1976 Indianapolis 500 and taking the Jazz Band on a two-week tour of the Southeast US in 1980. Her legacy to the program was the building of the band room in 1981 that is still in use today… it was so perfect; they built the current high school around it.

She was quite a character… to say she was one of kind is an understatement. The world would be better if there were more like Carlene.

Visitation and Interment below; all are invited to both.

In lieu of flowers, you can donate to:

Save the Music Foundation - We help students, schools, and communities reach their full potential through the power of making music. Donate at savethemusic.org.

American Diabetes Association - donate at diabetes.org.