Melba Lou Whiddon, 78, of Tifton passed away Monday morning, July 16, 2018, at her residence. Her funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, July 21, 2018, at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Chula with the Rev. Larry Layfield officiating. Ms. Whiddon will be laid to rest at Mount Zion Baptist Church Cemetery in Chula. The family will receive friends Friday, July 20, 2018, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals. Ms. Whiddon will be placed in the church one hour prior to the service.
Joshua Woods, Hunter Goodwin, Westley Tawzer, Robert North, Sidney Cromer and Nip Cromer will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Adult Ladies Sunday school class at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Chula.
Born May 22, 1940 in Tifton, Ms. Whiddon was the daughter of the late Roswell Lee Whiddon and Mary Lou Jordan Whiddon. She was also preceded in death by one sister, Barbara Jean Goodwin. She became a Registered Nurse, serving and caring for patients for over 50 years, working at Georgia Baptist Hospital and then at Northside Baptist Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, where she retired and then returned to her home in Tifton, Georgia in 2001. She them worked with Tift Regional Medical Center. She was a very kind, loving and caring daughter, sister, aunt, cousin and friend to all of us that were deeply touched by her life. She constantly gave of herself, unselfishly, her time, her spirit and gentleness to everyone she came in contact with. Her gift was helping others to be well and doing so with nothing asked for in return. She always had a Beautiful smile on her face, no matter what she was going through, having a positive outlook on everything. To know her was to know that she was the kindest, gentlest, most compassionate, giving, adorable individual that has ever been known. Melba was truly a Saint here on this earth, extremely humble and has definitely entered through the gates of Heaven, making it a brighter, more beautiful place. She was loved very dearly by us all and will truly be forever missed; the world will have a void and be less without her here.
Ms. Whiddon is survived by one brother, Donald Gerald Whiddon of Tifton; a brother-in-law, Carl Grady Goodwin of Tifton; one nephew and his wife, Joel D. and Kristin Neace Goodwin of Savannah; one niece and her husband, Sonya Goodwin Woods and Darrell K Woods of Tifton; her great-nieces, Heather Woods Williams and Hannah K. Woods Green and her husband Todd, all of Tifton and Abigail M. Goodwin of Savannah; her great-nephews, Joshua Woods of Tifton and Hunter Goodwin of Savannah; her great-great nephews, Westley P. Tawzer and Brantley Williams, both of Tifton and Jace Woods and Jack Woods, both of Valdosta; and other family members and life-long friends.