She graduated from Hannibal Sr. High School and received her BSE and Master’s Degree from Northeast Missouri State University. While in attendance at Northeast Missouri State, she became a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. After college, she taught special education K-6 grades in Georgia and Texas. In 1988, she received her administrative certification from Southwest State University.
She retired as an assistant principal from Austin Independent School District in May 2001. Later, she returned to AISD from 2003-2010 and served as an administrative assistant.
Melinda married her loving husband Jon Wesley Kraus on August 28th, 1993. She has been a member of High Pointe Baptist Church in Austin, TX since 1991. From 2011-2015, she did missionary work in Haiti. Her primary responsibility was to train teachers and administrators on how to incorporate the gospel into their curriculum.
She is proceeded in death by her parents Rueben and Alfretta Stallings and brother Howard Edward Stallings.
Surviving family includes Jon Wesley Kraus (husband) of Manor, TX; son Aubrey D. Johnson and his daughters Alexandra and Dominique; son Kenneth J. Johnson, his wife Kristi, and their children Alaina and Isaac; five sisters Patricia Stallings, Dorothy Simmons, and Carolyn Gibson (all of St. Louis, MO), Ruby Stallings of Austin, TX, and Marsha Muwwakkil of Houston, TX; five brothers Richard Stallings of St. Louis, MO, James Stallings, Robert Stallings, Harry Perkins, and Jon Perkins, all of Hannibal, MO; and a host of nieces and nephews.
A visitation for Melinda will be held Sunday, January 2, 2022 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home, 14501 North Interstate 35, Pflugerville, TX 78660. A funeral service will occur Monday, January 3, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. at High Pointe Baptist Church, 12030 Dessau Road, Austin, TX 78758. A graveside service will follow at Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Cemetery.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cookwaldencapitalparks.com for the Johnson-Kraus family.
