Obituary of Melvin Robert Sanford, 1993:
The Rev. Melvin Robert Sanford, 73, died Sunday at his home on Carriage Square in Clinton.
Mr. Sanford was born Jan. 31, 1920, in Fayette County, WV, to the late Tony Melvin and Leona Katherine Sims Sanford.
He was a minister for over 54 years. He pastured several churches in Ohio including, Rosedale, Mansfield, Kittman and Cleveland Freewill Baptist churches. In West Virginia, he was pastor of Parsley Bottom, Rockhouse and Nolan Freewill Baptist churches as well as serving 16 years at Scottsmoore Baptist. Since returning to Tennessee he has been a member of the Fairview Freewill Baptist Church.
His parents were the late Rev. and Mrs. Earl Sanford. A brother, the Rev. Earl Sanford, and a sister, Retha Boothe, also preceded him in death.
Survivors include his wife, Helen Lucille Adkins Sanford; daughters, Betty Oglesby of Clinton; Sara Phillips and Sharon Vance of Cocoa, FL; Ladonna Mingus of Milan, MI; a son, James Melvin Sanford of Melbourne, FL; 12 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; sisters, Bertha Perdue and Linda Sanford, both of Sandyville, WV; brothers, Dallas Sanford and Rush Merritt, both of Ravenna, OH; and several nieces and nephews.
Services were held Tuesday at the Fairview Freewill Baptist Church with the Rev. Glenn Hall officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery. Holley-Gamble Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Clinton Courier News, 20 Oct 1993
[Courtesy of Renee Scarbrough]