Extracted from The Alexandria Daily Town Talk (Alexandria, LA)
Wednesday, February 26, 2003

Melba Bailey Robertson Dean

Melba Bailey Robertson Dean, 84, died Sunday, February 23, 2003 in Norman, Oklahona after a period of declining health and complications from a stroke.

She was born August 20, 1918 in Ball, Louisiana to Steve and Leano Bailey. One of four children, she grew up in Louisiana and was married and had four daughters with her husband, Bruce Robertson. They moved to Norman in 1959. Melba worked for the University of Oklahoma in the Financial Aid Department for several years after her husband's death. She was remarried in 1973 to Jarrett Dean and retired to enjoy her hobbies of gardening, bird watching, and needlework.

Melba was preceded in death by her parents, Steve and Leano Bailey; her husbands, Bruce Robertson and Jarrett Dean; an infant son and a brother, Hickman Bailey.

Melba is survived by her four daughters and their husbands, Pat and Robert Denton of Norman, Oklahoma, Linda and Michael Martin of Manassas, Virginia, Shirley and Bill Monical of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Kaye and Joe Hylton of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; a brother, Wallace Bailey of Shreveport; a sister, Eunice Corley of Ball; five grandchildren, Jennifer and her husband, Michael Drury, Jeff Chrisope, Amy and her husband, Chad Roberts, Kali Hylton, and Bailey Hylton; four great-grandchildren, Mickey, Sarah, Sam, and Katie Drury, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held at Hixson Brothers Funeral Home in Pineville on Friday, February 28, 2003 at 1 p.m. Burial will be at Kitchen Creek Cemetery in Ball.

Visitation will be from 9 a.m. Friday until time of services at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be sent to St. Stephen's United Methodist Church, 1801 W. Brooks, Norman, Oklahoma, 73069.