Submitted by

Karen Stewart

Melba Louise Mourer, 88, of Ponca City, formerly of Tonkawa, Oklahoma passed away Tuesday, October 18, 2011 in Ponca City Nursing Center. She was born July 29, 1923 in Unionville, Missouri to Luther N. and Wyneta M. (Clouse) Montgomery.
Melba grew up in Nardin, Oklahoma, attending the Nardin and Deer Creek schools, graduating from Deer Creek High School in 1941. She took several classes while working at NOC in Tonkawa. She married DJ Mourer on August 2, 1942 in Blackwell, Oklahoma at the First Presbyterian Church, and they celebrated sixty three and a half years of marriage before DJ’s death.
Melba and DJ lived in Wichita, Kansas from 1942 until 1948, at which time they moved to Tonkawa. They lived there until 2006, when Melba moved to Ponca City, living there until her death.
During WWII, Melba worked at Beach Aircraft Co. in Wichita, Kansas. She then worked for the Tonkawa Ford Motor Co., the three insurance companies of Williams, Coulter and Breece, and Northern Oklahoma College, all from 1957 to 1986, at which time she retired.
Melba was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Tonkawa, the Tonkawa Historical Society, the Pioneer Genealogical Society, the Retired Teachers Assn., and was a board member of the Friends of Nardin. She enjoyed stamp collecting, genealogy, and history, particularly history associated with family, Nardin and Tonkawa.
A funeral service will be held in the Tonkawa First Presbyterian Church, Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. with the Revs. Phillip Erwin and Don Tapp officiating. Interment will follow in the Tonkawa I.O.O.F. Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Tonkawa Funeral Home.
Pallbearer's will be Brent Duroy, Eric Peeples, Troy Lansdowne, Chris Duroy, Jeff Bovard, and Stephen Montgomery.
She is survived by her daughter, Phyllis Lansdowne and husband Lloyd of Ponca City, Oklahoma; her son, Ron Mourer and wife Nancy of Henderson, Nevada; her brother Nolan Montgomery and wife Lillian of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; her sister Connie Shaw and husband Mike of Denison, Texas; her grandchildren, Rhonda Lansdowne of Tonkawa, Oklahoma, Troy Lansdowne and wife Robin of Tehachapi, California, Darrin Mourer and wife Alicia of Ladera Ranch, California, Marissa (Mourer) Paxton and husband Laramie of Trinidad, California; her great-grandchildren Eric Peeples of Tonkawa, Oklahoma, and Ethan, Jillian, and Amelia Mourer of Ladera Ranch, California; her cousin and life-long friend Janie Fairchild of Blackwell, Oklahoma; her Godson Stephen Montgomery.
She is preceded in death by her husband DJ Mourer; her parents, Luther and Wyneta Montgomery; a twin sister Carol Mae; and a brother, Nelson Montgomery.
Memorials to the Friends of Nardin, Tonkawa 1st Presbyterian Church, and Hospice of North Central OK may be given to and in care of the Tonkawa Funeral Home, 400 E. Grand Ave., Tonkawa, Okla. 74653