Mary Melinda Godbold Gwin died on March 11, 2023, in her 86th year, a full and fruitful life of service, including a 30-year career as a teacher and a near 60-year embrace of motherhood and deep devotion to and love for her children and family. Born on August 28, 1937, in Houston, Texas, she was raised by loving parents, the late William Rayford and Vera Godbold Gwin, in Indianola, Mississippi, and went on to complete undergraduate studies in English at the University of Mississippi where she pledged Chi Omega like her mother before her. She pursued graduate studies in English at Ole Miss before working in Washington, D.C., on the staff of Democratic Congressman Frank E. Smith. Her life then turned to raising a family and pursuing a teaching career. From the late 1960s through the 1990s, she taught special education with an emphasis on working with autistic children at schools in the Leflore County and the Greenwood Municipal Public Schools Districts, from Little Red to Amanda Elzy High School to Threadgill Junior High School. She was devoted to her students and their growth into the fullness of their gifts and capacities. As a mother and teacher, she exhibited great resourcefulness in bringing color, creativity, and joy to the lives of her children, students, friends, and family. She shared her gifts with many civic clubs, the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, and the Greenwood Little Theater, and she enjoyed a rich personal life in her explorations of creative writing, art, and theology. She served as an ever-present exemplar of possibility. In all the areas of greatest importance in love and service, she lived into her high school quotation: “slow and steady wins the race.” The spirit of her life resides in the hearts of those who knew and loved her. She was preceded in death by her parents and daughter Gwin’s partner Lesley C. Chiller. She is survived by her brothers William R. Gwin (Mary) and James G. Gwin (Penny); her children, M. Gwin Wheatley, Seth Wheatley, III (Sandi), Elizabeth Wheatley-Jones (Butch Jones), and Parker Wheatley (Jennifer); and her grandchildren Lawson Wheatley, William Jones, Liza Lane Jones, and Colton Jones. The family wishes to thank Mattie Hood for her longtime love and care for Melinda.
A Requiem Eucharist will be celebrated on Saturday, March 25 at 11:00 am preceded by Visitation at 10:00 am, both at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Indianola, Mississippi.
The Committal at the Indianola Cemetery will follow. Out of care and concern for those more vulnerable in attendance at the service in the church, the family requests attendees to wear N95/KN95 masks that will be made available. Livestream may be viewed on the St. Stephen’s Facebook page. In lieu of flowers, the family asks memorials be directed to the Gray Center “Camp Bratton-Green Scholarship Fund” https://graycenter.org/giving/ or Gray Center/Camp Bratton-Green, 1530 Way Road, Canton, MS 39046.
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