[Tall-Corn] Memories of Melva

[bray at nfbi.org]

Greetings, It is so difficult to hear this news. We have known her for a very long time and she even spent some conventions with our family. 

Truly a remarkable  person and dedicated. Not many people kept active in the NFB through some very difficult times. She will certainly be missed.

Bob


-----Original Message-----
From: Tall-Corn <tall-corn-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of April Enderton via Tall-Corn
Sent: Thursday, December 5, 2024 11:09 PM
To: tall-corn at nfbnet.org
Cc: April Enderton <alenderton at gmail.com>
Subject: [Tall-Corn] Memories of Melva

Dear Federation Family,

I just wanted to share a few special memories of Melva Urban, a dedicated federationist and outstanding woman. I met Melva in January 2007 when we roomed together at my first Washington Seminar. I was feeling kind of home sick and Melva reminded me so much of my grandma that just listening to her talk was a great comfort to me. Melva has been a federationist longer than many of us have been alive. She shared with me that she was at the meeting in Oregon, I believe it was, where Dr. Jernigan announced that he would be moving to Iowa to be the director of the Iowa Commission for the Blind. At that time, Iowa had some of the worst services for the blind in the country. Well, anyone who knows their NFB history also knows how Dr. Jernigan turned that around—so much that in 1968, the then Iowa governor proclaimed that if anyone has to be blind, the best place to be blind is in Iowa. Melva also told me about the bakery that she ran in Newell, Iowa and about her vending stand.

Melva had a hearing problem so I helped her around the hotel. Sometimes, both of us ended up getting lost and one time, we got separated from each other. 

When we launched the At Large Chapter in 2013, Melva was one of our original members. One year, we wished her a happy birthday. I think she may have just turned 90. We asked her about her secret for longevity. She laughed and said that she drank one glass of red wine every night. Melva was a truly delightful person and I feel honored to have known her.
Sincerely,

April

_______________________________________________
Tall-Corn mailing list
Tall-Corn at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/tall-corn_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Tall-Corn:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/tall-corn_nfbnet.org/bray%40nfbi.org