Dorothy Melton West (Tulia)

Tulia, Texas— Longtime Tulia resident Dorothy Mae Melton West passed away on Thursday, January 6, 2011, at the age of 95. Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. Monday at First Baptist Church in Tulia with Reverend Charles Davenport officiating. Burial will follow in Rose Hill Cemetery under the direction of Kornerstone Funeral Directors of Tulia. Dorothy was born March 14, 1915 in Ft. Sumner, New Mexico, and lived in Roswell and Capitan, New Mexico, and Walters, Oklahoma before moving to Tulia, Texas during her childhood. She married Wilson Melton on September 28, 1935. Together, they traveled the central part of the United States doing custom harvest work for many years. Dorothy was a Girl Scout Leader, a Sunday School teacher, and worked at Huxford’s Department Store in Tulia for over 40 years. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Tulia. She leaves a daughter, Teresa Melton Kiker; three grandchildren, Kim Kiker Horne and her husband John Horne, Rhonda Kiker Carr and her husband Eric Carr, and J. Frank Kiker and his wife, Amy Kennedy Kiker; and seven great-grandchildren, Maegan Horne Moore and her husband Eli Moore, Jill Horne, Jeff Horne, Laura Beth Carr Parker and her husband, Josh Parker, Allison Carr, Jett Kiker and Katy Kiker. Her sister, Dessie Bivens Evans, and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews and also survive her, including Tulia natives Robert Gould and Linda Foster. She will remain an inspiration to her family and the multitude of friends who knew and loved her. Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents, Roy and Lela Stratton Bivens, her first husband, Wilson Melton, her second husband, Earl West, and her sister, Dora Bivens Bonds. Visitation will be from 5:00 until 6:00 p.m. on Sunday at Kornerstone Funeral Directors in Tulia.