Muskogee County, OK

Blackjack Cemetery

Melissa Graves Yates

© by Cheryl Travis 

©  Muskogee Phoenix
July 13, 2006
Submitted by: Jo Aguirre

Melissa "Chick" (Graves) Yates

May 6th, 1910 ~ July 8, 2006

Because our Savior took the sting from death which comes at all seasons and to all ages. God has been thy ransom, they Guardian, they guide, for as He giveth, He also taketh away. Melissa "Chick" Graves Yates ninety-six, passed away on July 8th, 2006.

She was the fifth of fourteen children born to the late Rev. Thomas and Texanna Gardner Graves on May 6th, 1910, in Texas. Melissa received her education at St. Mary's High School. She proclaimed Jesus Christ as her Personal Savior and was baptized at an early age.

Melissa married her teenage sweetheart Joseph Jackson of Taft. There were no children born to this union. After his untimely death, she met and married Isom Yates. She worked for many years as a nurses aide at McIntosh Nursing Center. After retiring from the center she took in two of the residents, giving them a family atmosphere. The lived with Melissa until their deaths.

Melissa will be remembered for her boundless energy, determination, work ethics and her passion, gardening.

The family preceding her in death are her parents, both husbands, nine sisters, three brothers and her nephew, Darrell Yates, who she and Isom raised as a son.

Those she leaves behind to cherish their memories of her include a son, Virgil Lee Yates, Sr., of Taft, OK. One sister, Vernice Peeples, of Broken Arrow. One sister-in-law, Etoise Graves, of Taft, OK. Four grandsons, ten great-grandsons, and several nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

The going home service for "Chick" will be held Friday, July 14th, 2006, at 11:00 a.m. in First Baptist Church, Taft, with Rev. Ernie Anderson, Sr. serving as host pastor. Officiating the homegoing will be Rev. Lester Beasley, pastor of Harvest Ministries, Muskogee. She will be laid to eternal rest in Ministries, Muskogee.

She will be laid to eternal rest in Blackjack Cemetery, under the direction of Ragsdale Funeral Center. The visitation will be today from 1:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.

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