Melba Warburton

A funeral service for Melba Warburton, age 84, of Milford, will be held Wednesday, July 22, 2015 at 11:00am at the First Lutheran Church in West Okoboji. Burial will be at Milford Cemetery. Visitation will be on Tuesday, July 21 after 4:00pm with the family present fro 5:00-7:00pm at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Milford. Melba Faye Warburton, the daughter of Ida (Wilson) and Glen Eckard, was born July 24, 1930 in Milford, Iowa. She graduated from the Okoboji Consolidated High School. On February 21, 1952, Melba was united in marriage to Lorraine Warburton in Milford. After they married, they farmed west of Terril and later moved northwest of Milford. In 1958 they moved to the farm where the resided until moving to town in 1985. They attended the Little Sioux Lutheran Church in rural Milford until it closed in 2010. They currently attended the First Lutheran Church in West Okoboji. Melba liked playing card games at family gatherings at the home, word puzzles and reading. She kept a daily diary and jotted down a few sentences almost every day. She used to collect owls and birdhouses and it was fun to bring them to her when we traveled. Her greatest interest was spending time with family and keeping up on the latest news in her family. She truly loved being a wife, mother, grandmother and caretaker. Melba passed away Sunday, July 19, 2015 at Lakes Regional Healthcare in Spirit Lake at eighty-four years of age. She is survived by her husband, Lorraine; brother, Duane (Alene) Eckard; sisters, Shirley Boles and Virginia (Roger) Davis; three sons, Jim (Ann) Warburton, Joe (Steven) Warburton and Scott (Carolyn) Warburton; grandchildren, Mike (Jessie), David (Britni), Brandon, Katelyn, Sam and Jacob; great-grandchilden, Ella and Kinleigh. Melba was preceded in death by her parents; sister, Elaine Watkins and three nephews.