Melba Carter Peters

Melba C. Peters. Melba Peters, 99, passed away peacefully the morning of May 28, 2019. A 25-year resident of Harrisonburg, she was born Avis Melba Carter on July 8, 1919, in Homer, Louisiana. She was the daughter of Avis Lashley and Robert Micajah Carter, formerly of Linville, Alabama.

Melba was educated in Gulfport, Mississippi, where she successfully competed in pageants and often worked as a fashion model before meeting and marrying Russell Dixon “Pete” Peters, a rising professional baseball star, on February 27, 1936. During the baseball season, they lived wherever the home team was located—Philadelphia, Atlanta, Cleveland or St. Louis. Off-season, they resided in Roanoke, Virginia, Pete’s hometown. After Pete’s retirement from baseball in 1951, they moved to Orlando, Florida, where Melba pursued a 20-year career in banking. They returned to Virginia in 1977, first to Bedford, then to Harrisonburg. In retirement, Melba became certified in and practiced naturopathic medicine. A gifted watercolorist, she was also an avid reader, genealogist, and world traveler. Melba served her local community through memberships in the Keezletown Association for Family and Community Education, the Massanutton Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and Asbury United Methodist Church. She was a conscientious citizen who lived through the depression, World War II (in which Pete and her two brothers served), and the Korean, Viet Nam, Iraqi and Afghanistan wars. She wrote to her legislators on issues important to her, such as a recent letter urging ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in Virginia. She was beloved for her spiritual strength and wisdom, her grace, and her kindness to all whose lives she touched.

She is survived by her daughters, Sherry Hood and Sylvia Rogers (Arthur), granddaughters Jeffrie van Loveren (Harry), Justine Lee Hood, and Lila Rogers Swenson, grandson Frederic Rogers (Shelly), great-grandchildren, John Swenson, Kiri Swenson, and Eva Davis-Nixon, her nieces Janice Couns, Barbara Carderelli, Linda Hulewat, Phyllis Murphy, and Dreama Burns, and her nephew James Wheeler. She was the surviving member of her immediate family of 2 brothers (Jack and Phillip) and 2 sisters (Ruth and Bobbie).

Memorial services will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, June 1, 2019, in the Chapel of the Lindsey Funeral Homes in Harrisonburg with Rev. Dr. Stephen D. Hay officiating.

A family celebration to commemorate the 100th anniversary of her birth will take place on July 7, 2019, at Unity of Roanoke Valley.

Contributions in her memory may be made to the Catalyst for Ministries Fund, Asbury United Methodist Church, 205 S. Main Street, Harrisonburg, VA 22801.

Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.lindseyharrisonburg.com.