Obituary of Ilar M. Melton

Ilar Mae Melton, the seventh child of Minnie and Bertis Melton was born on May 13, 1919. She passed away peacefully on Monday, March 14, 2016 at the age of 96. In 1931, she accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior and joined Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Sprott, Alabama. She attended Lincoln High School in Marion, Alabama and graduated in 1943. She moved to Ridgewood, NJ in 1944 and joined the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Ridgewood under Rev. David H. Bradley. She was also a resident of Glen Rock and New Milford. For over seventy years, she served as a faithful member of the choir, Sunday school teacher, pianist, superintendent of the Sunday School, Buds of Promise and deaconess of the church. Ilar attended Lincoln Technical Institute where she obtained a degree in medical technology She worked as a medical technologist at Wayne General Hospital where she retired after 35 years of service. She is preceded in death: by her daughter Linda Ray Smith; Mother, Minnie Williams Melton; Father Bertis Melton; Stepmother Inell Melton; nine sisters, Hettie Brown, Mary Melton, Emma Lou Wilson, Annie Huff, Mabel Dunnings, Rosie Lee Harris, Lola Jackson, and Lula Lampley, Walter Frances Perry, Three brothers, F.C. Melton, Jesse Melton, and Samuel Melton. Ilar Melton leaves to cherish her loving memory; a brother Lowell Melton, five sisters; Irma Melton, Dorothy Heard, Nadine Patton, Carolyn Hull, Dr. Jerildine Melton Ph.D; and a host of other relatives and friends including her beloved Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church family. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 from 5:30 – 7:30 at the Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church, 259 Broad St., Ridgewood, NJ 07450. Following visitation, Ilar’s funeral service will begin at 7:30 PM. Interment will follow at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus on Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at 10:00 AM. Contributions in Ilar’s memory may be made to the Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church. Arrangements are by Vander Plaat Funeral Home (vpfh.com), Wyckoff