Melvin Williams

BLOOMFIELD - Melvin "Churn" Williams, 79, died Jan. 6, 2002.

Born Sept. 16, 1922, son of the late Frank and Leecy Bolin Williams, he was a lifelong resident of Bloomfield and was a 1942 graduate of Bloomfield High School. He was self-employed for many years and served as a juvenile officer for 16 years.

A member of the First Baptist Church of Bloomfield, he was instrumental in establishing the Stoddard County Children's Home and Bloomfield Juvenile Detention Center. Williams served on the board of directors for the Bloomfield Children's Home, Children's Place in Malden, Crowley Ridge Country Club and the Southeast Missouri Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame, where he was also a member. He also served on the Bloomfield City Council for many years.

On July 4, 1942, he married Deane Clark who survives of the home.

Other survivors include: two daughters, Jayne Stewart and Judi Davis of Winston, Ga.; his daughter-in-law, Marilyn Williams of Jefferson City; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by one son, Jack Williams; one granddaughter, Michele Williams; and eight brothers and one sister.

Friends may call from noon Tuesday until service time at 2 p.m. at Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home. Mike Watkins and Ron Dunivan, pastors of churches in Bloomfield, will officiate.

Burial will follow in the Bloomfield Cemetery.