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Obituary for Melissa Wilson Bondurant
Melissa Wilson Bondurant died on June 17, 2018 unexpectedly after complications from surgery. Funeral services are Friday, June 22 at 11:00 at St. James Episcopal Church in Jackson with visitation in Fowler Hall from 10:00 to the service.
Melissa was born on October 8, 1954 in Brookhaven, Mississippi to Charles R. Wilson and Jerry Nalty Wilson. After a brief stint in Poplarville, her family moved to Tyrone Drive in Jackson where Melissa and her two sisters grew up. She attended St. Richard Elementary, Bailey Junior High, Murrah High School and graduated from Jackson Prep in 1972. She graduated from Mississippi State University in 1976 with a degree in art. Her first job after college was as the receptionist for the downtown Jackson law firm of Wells, Gerald, Brand, Watters & Cox where she met a young attorney who was to become her husband three years later. She next worked as the art teacher at Pearl High School.
She retired from teaching when she had her first child, Alexander Lee Morgan Bondurant, in 1985. She continued in the role of mother and homemaker for several years after the birth of her daughter, Leigh Lorraine Nalty Bondurant, in 1988. After the children were in high school, she worked as the Executive Secretary of the Mississippi Craftsman’s Guild, Editor of Healthscope Magazine and then Editor of The Rankin Record newspaper. She returned to the role of homemaker after both children were in college.
Melissa was a member of the Debutante Club of Mississippi, the Jackson Junior League where she served as Editor of The Tattler, the DAR, the Gallery Guild and St. James Episcopal Church.
Melissa excelled as both a writer and editor and often opined after reading a newspaper article of the author’s dire need of a good editor. She was a doyenne of good taste in art, Southern cuisine, haute couture, literature and etiquette. She was a gourmet cook and consummate dinner party hostess.
Melissa was preceded in death by her father, Charles R. Wilson. She is survived by her husband of 39 years, Si Morgan Bondurant, her two children Alexander Lee Morgan Bondurant, his wife Whitney, and their child Silas Morgan Warrington Bondurant, Leigh Lorraine Nalty Bondurant and her husband Jay Jensen, her mother Jerry Nalty Wilson, and two sisters and their husbands Melinda and Mike Fortenberry and Leigh and Lou Graham.
She left her friends and family far too early but endures in their cherished memories of good and happy times together. While we will miss the company of our dear Melissa on our earthly pilgrimage, we are comforted in the knowledge that as one committed to Christ in faith, she has been received into the arms of His mercy into the blessed rest of everlasting peace.
The family requests that any memorials be made to either the Wilson Research Foundation, 1350 East Woodrow Wilson Avenue, Jackson, MS 39216, St. Andrews Booster Club, 370 Old Agency Road, Ridgeland, MS 39157 or St. James Episcopal Church Choir Fund, 3921 Oak Ridge Drive, Jackson, MS 3921
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