Robert "Bob" Melvin

Robert "Bob" Hinton Melvin, age 67, born September 7, 1953, left this earth on March 3, 2021, to claim his citizenship in heaven. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Robert and Elise Melvin, Bob grew up in the Charjean area of East Memphis with his sisters. He was a proud alumni of Messick High School, Class of ‘73. Bob loved sports and loved to reminisce about his glory days on the basketball court, the baseball field and running Cross Country. He stayed in touch with his high school classmates, several of whom were dear, lifelong friends. Bob was famous for organizing golf tournaments and other events to provide a venue for his friends to get together. Bob owned and operated a successful Dental Lab, and took pride in crafting quality products.

Anyone who knows Bob would tell you that his love language was service. Bob never met a stranger. He loved to serve breakfast in bed to his family and guests. It was his nature to put others first. Bob’s life was a genuine portrait of Jesus’ Great Commandment to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and to love your neighbor as yourself.”

Bob loved to hunt and fish and made the best sausage dressing on the planet; always a hit at Thanksgiving dinner. He discovered pickle-ball a few years ago and loved his pickle-ball buddies at Germantown Baptist. He enjoyed the fellowship and the competition that it offered. Bob often prepared a devotion to share with his pickle ball group.

We enjoyed giving Bob a hard time about his resistance to jump aboard the technology train ... “My phone is buzzing ... am I getting a text or a call?”; “Babe, can you help me get ‘on the line,' I need to check my email.” Though Bob claimed he didn’t care for the family dog, Petey, he was caught sneaking him food under the table on numerous occasions. Petey was a big Bob fan!

Bob married his sweetheart, Kay Bland Melvin in 1981; this year would have been 40 sweet years of love and life together. Bob was a proud “girl dad” and adored Emily (Scott) and Anna. Emily shared that her Dad taught her the beauty of simple, spontaneous fun. When the forecast called for temperatures below freezing, he’d hose down the driveway, get out the sleds and make you feel like you were hurling down an icy slope at Audubon Park. She recalls her Dad dancing to the oldies before church on Sunday mornings while making breakfast.

Anna thinks of her Dad as a true gentleman. She is grateful to have lived in a family with parents who modeled a Christ-centered marriage. Bob’s selfless love for her Mom and for his girls was something she could always count on. Anna felt secure and supported because of the solid, dependable foundation that her Dad provided for her. Anna knows that a man like her Dad is rare and hard to find; she is willing to watch and wait for a man like her Dad...a man who is committed to love and care for her like her Dad loved and cared for her Mom.

Bob’s grandchildren Isabelle (10 years old) and Noah (8 years old) loved their “Fa-Fa” with great enthusiasm and with their whole hearts. He was a constant, positive presence in their lives. Noah, as a pre-schooler, left through the back door after nap-time, scaled a tall wooden fence (barefoot) and crossed two busy streets all alone. After the frantic search ended and Noah was recovered, the Policeman asked Noah where he was going. Without missing a beat, he replied he was going to see his Fa-Fa.

In addition to Kay, Emily, Anna, Isabelle and Noah, Bob is survived by four sisters, Alice Faye Newcomb, Dianne Melvin, Sandy Hooks, and Renee Ivy. Bob was blessed with cousins who were dear friends, Robert Bruce, Floyd Bruce, John Davis, Mike Davis, Pattie Davis, and Dowdy Worton- Roberson. He is also survived by many well-loved nieces and nephews. Bob was reunited in heaven with his Mom, Elise, his Dad, Robert, and his sister Pam Jones.

Though this has been a heart-breaking and difficult journey, we take comfort in knowing that Bob is at perfect peace and enjoying heaven. While it is so surreal and feels impossible to say goodbye, the God Winks along the way have been numerous. We have been surrounded by friends and family who have been loving and generous beyond words. The Lord has laid on our hearts, more than ever before, that we are to look for opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus here on this earth. The best tribute that we can pay Bob is to follow his example of living The Great Commandment every single day.

Services have been entrusted to Memphis Funeral Home, 5599 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee 38119. Family and friends are invited to gather at the funeral home on Wednesday, March 10 for a visitation from 1:00 to 2:00 PM and funeral services celebrating Bob's life at 2:00 PM. Graveside committal services will immediately follow in Memorial Park Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee.

Kay and the girls request that any memorials be directed to Operation Christmas Child https://www.samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/memorial-giving/