Mel Scarborough

    Services for Mel Scarborough will be held Monday at 2 p.m. at Central United Methodist Church, with the Revs. Tommy Gilbert and Bob Rambo officiating. Burial will be Forest Lawn Cemetery with Robert Barham Family Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

    Mr. Scarborough, 85, of Meridian, died Friday, May 14, 2010, at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson. He was retired from the U.S. Air Force. He was a very active member of Central U.M.C. He began his flying career as a pilot in the Army Air Corps and continued it with the Mississippi Air National Guard. He served five years as a colonel on the staff of the Air War College of Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala. Upon his retirement, he received a promotion from the Mississippi Air National Guard to the honorary rank of brigadier general. He was a past president of the rotary club of Meridian, and a Paul Harris Fellow. He also held other rotary positions on the district level. One of the joys of his later life was playing golf at Lakeview with his friends, Tommy Gilbert, Shorty Anderson and Paul Raley.

    Survivors include his wife, Joyce Scarborough of Meridian; son, Mark A. Scarborough of Meridian; daughter, Melanie Scarborough of Washington, D.C.; beloved dog, Baylor; sisters, Rene Boyd of Pensacola, Fla., Ruth Naser of Mattaha, Wash., and Brenda Payne of Starkville; brothers, Col. Wesley Scarborough of St. Louis, Mo., Dr. James A. Scarborough of Merigold; and a number of nieces and nephews.

    He was preceded in death by his parents, James A. Scarborough and Gertie Scarborough.

    Pallbearers will be Jim McRae, Dan Holland, James Holland, Tim Allred, Cliff Allred, Capt. Matt Schroer and Dr. Doug Scarborough. Honorary pallbearers will be Emmett Mitcham, Harold Meyer, Sydney Nix and members of Williams Sunday School Class.

    The family requests memorials be made to Central U.M.C., Rotary Club or a charity of choice.

    Visitation will be Monday from noon until 2 p.m. at the church.