Melba Marquita Spainhour passed away July 17th, 2023, at Woodland Hill.
She was born October 24th, 1929, in Forsythe County, NorthCarolina. Melba was the youngest of the six children born to Talmadge Vance Linville and Cleve Leanna Smith.
Melba (remembered mostly as Marq) was preceded in death by her parents and her siblings: Vancene, Hilda, Wanda, Talmadge, and Milton.
She was married to James Dudley Spainhour at the Evangelical Reform Church in Winston-Salem, NC on September 6th, 1952.
She is survived by her devoted spouse Jim. She is also survived by their son Thomas (wife Frances), their two children daughter Amanda (Collin Peterson) and son Philip (Corri Gilbertson) Spainhour. Melba had three great grandchildren Samantha and Lewis Peterson and Ada Spainhour.
Melba was a graduate of Bowman Gray Hgh School (Winston-Salem) class of 1949. Upon graduation she worked with several dentists as dental assistant. She later was hired by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to instruct dental students on how to use a dental assistant.
Melba and Jim lived several places. They went to Evanston, Illinois while Jim finished a doctorate in chemistry and Melba worked and help to raise their son. Then the couple moved to Bartlesville, Oklahoma from 1956-1965 while Jim worked for Phillips 66. In 1965 they moved to Belpre, Ohio for twelve years where they were both active in their community and Melba enjoyed singing with the church choir. Arlington Heights, Illinois was their next home. They lived there thirty years as Jim worked at Borg-Warner Chemical. There Melba was very active in sewing and crafts. She was a very accomplished seamstress, quilter, and other needle work. She sewed heirloom clothes for her granddaughter and her dolls. They moved to Clemmons, NC for the next nine years to be close to the people and area where they had grown up. In 2016 they made the move to Woodland Hill in Hudson. Melba had increasing memory loss but always remembered to the big band era songs (she had sung in her brother’s band as a young woman) and remembered her love of Jim.
A quiet family and staff memorial will be held in Woodland Hill. When her Jim passes, they both will be returned to North Carolina.