Cover photo for Melba Jean Bridges's Obituary
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1943 Melba 2021

Melba Jean Bridges

June 11, 1943 — August 21, 2021

Melba Jean Bridges, 78, of Maumelle, Arkansas passed away on Saturday, August 21, 2021. She died, as she lived- on her own terms. Never one to appreciate being told what to do, she fully recuperated from lung cancer and not one but two comas, from which doctors did not expect her to recover. That she managed to pass peacefully in her sleep at home after a multitude of health crises over the last few decades is a testament to her stubbornness.

Melba was an administrative assistant until her retirement from National Park College in 2014. In the 1960s she was a stenographer for the FBI in San Antonio, Texas working side-by-side with her identical twin, Jane Williamson. During the 1980s she worked for Guaranty (Hibernia) Bank in Alexandria, Louisiana until moving to Glenwood, Arkansas in 1988 to help Jane raise her children Laura and Sherry. As a childless aunt, she took great joy in having a casual relationship with discipline for children and routinely spoiled all the kids she loved. She was a fixture at local sporting events for Glenwood High School and ultimately Centerpoint School District. She loved the LSU Tigers and New Orleans Saints and very much enjoyed torturing the multitude of Razorback fans in her life.

Melba was predeceased by her parents, Arthur and Gladys Mae Bridges. She is survived by her sisters, Sherry Ledet of Houston, Texas and Jane Williamson of Maumelle, Arkansas, as well as many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and nephews and more friends than is honestly reasonable… most especially Ruth Wood and Janetta Ritter, who Melba considered to be her sisters as well.

She was very much looking forward to the impending birth of her first great-great-niece, Ava James Bailey, who is expected to arrive in early September. She would very likely point out that by passing on before Ava’s official arrival that she indeed met her first. Melba was argumentative like that, and she was loved because of it, not in spite of it.

Melba loved daisies, so when you see one, please remember her and how she lived each day as if she was stealing time. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Out of the Woods Animal Rescue or National Park College.

A memorial service will be planned when everyone can gather safely to celebrate her life.

Condolences may be sent to Jane Williamson and family at 73 Cypress Cove, Maumelle, AR 72113.

Cremation arrangements are under the direction of Davis-Smith Funeral Home and Crematory, Glenwood.

Guest registry is at www.davis-smith.com.

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Melba Jean Bridges, please visit our flower store.

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