Obituary of Mellie Ophelia Toney Douglas former resident Richland Parish Louisiana as published in the Monroe News Star, March 30, 2006 Submitted by for the USGenWeb Archives by Dot Golliher, 03/30/2006 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** * Mellie Ophelia Toney Douglas Funeral services for Mellie Ophelia (Toney) Douglas, 92, of West Monroe, LA will be held 2:00 PM Friday, March 31, 2006 at North Monroe Baptist Church, Monroe, LA. Interment will follow at Monroe Memorial Park. Officiating will be Rev. Marshall Douglas, Dr. Bill Dye, and Dr. Charles Wesley under the direction of Kilpatrick Funeral Home, West Monroe, LA. Mrs. Douglas passed away Monday, March 27, 2006 at Glenwood Medical Center following a lengthy illness. She was preceded in death by her husband, James N. Douglas. Born on April 15, 1913, in Flora, MS, "Miss Mellie" moved to Louisiana at three years of age. She married "Mr. Jim" in 1930 and they were married almost sixty-eight years at the time of his death in 1998. A dedicated Christian, Miss Mellie was a member of North Monroe Baptist Church. Previously she was a very active member of Bethel Baptist Church in Holly Ridge, Calvary Baptist Church and Central Baptist Church in Monroe and Ouachita Baptist Church in West Monroe. A Bible Scholar, she taught Bible classes for several decades at churches she attended. The mother of eight, and a farm wife for about twenty-five years, she enrolled in accounting classes at a trade school in Monroe after the age of 40. She successfully embarked on a new career as a bookkeeper, working for a number of years at Durrett Furniture Company and Weeks Supply in Monroe. Mrs. Douglas is survived by eight children, Earl Douglas and wife, Yvonne of Shreveport, George Douglas and wife, Pat of Monroe, Marshall Douglas and wife, Teresa of Jonesville, Helen Landby and husband, John of West Monroe, Jerry Calloway and husband, Ray of West Monroe, Betty Crawford and husband, Ken of Denver, CO, Elsie Justice and husband, Ed of Monroe and Donna McLaughlin and husband, Gerald of Monroe; one sister, Earnestine Siordia of Arlington, TX; twenty-four grandchildren, Jamie Douglas, Jill Pilinski, Tracy Douglas, Paul Douglas, DeAnn VanDerGracht, Katherine Long, Patti Reed, Adrianne DeLancey, Larry Foreman, Rene' Foreman, James Nielson, Glenn Nielson, Cathy Hutto, Cindy Bloore, Connie Burch, Christi Robinson, Sherry Vidrine, Scott Foust, Mark Price, Matthew Price, Joe McLaughlin, Sean McLaughlin, Claude McLaughlin and Clay McLaughlin; fourty-four great grandchildren and one great great grandchild; special friends, Mattie Howard and Paul Cavell and numerous nieces and nephews. Grandsons will serve as pallbearers. Memorials may be made to the: American Heart Association / American Stroke Association, P.O. Box 409410, Atlanta, GA, 30384-9410 or American Kidney Fund, 6110 Executive Boulevard, Suite 1010, Rockville, MD, 20852. Visitation will be Thursday from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM at Kilpatrick Funeral Home, West Monroe, LA.