Kate Fender Melton, age 87, formerly of Pfafftown, North Carolina passed away peacefully, April 18, 2019 at Madison Health and Rehabilitation, in Mars Hill, North Carolina.

She was the daughter of Cas and Clara Farmer Fender, who preceded her in death. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Maurice Melton, Sr. and her sister, Joann Anders.

Kate is survived by her children, Donna Melton (Kelly) of McFarland, Kansas and Maurice Melton, Jr. (Mary) of Tobaccoville, North Carolina; two grandsons, Benjamin Melton (Cassie) and Christopher Melton; three great-grandchildren, Joanna, Emmalyn and Clifford Melton. Also, Kate is survived by her sisters, June Wyatt of Mars Hill and Joyce Poole of Glendale Arizona, her brother-in-law, Gene Anders of Fairview and several nephews and nieces.

Kate had a desire to be a nurse from an early age and achieved that dream by graduating from Grace School of Nursing in Morganton, North Carolina and later retiring from Forsyth Memorial Hospital.

Kate was a faithful member of Bethania Moravian Church, of Bethania, North Carolina. She loved worshiping her Savior, Jesus Christ at Bethania and continued to be interested in the happenings there even though for health reasons she could no longer attend.

In 2016, she returned to the mountains of Madison County, that she loved from childhood, especially the community of Foster Creek. There she grew up and had a wonderful childhood with her sisters and many cousins. She loved wildflowers, poetry, music and especially birds.

A funeral service will be held at 1:00 pm Monday, April 22, 2019, at the Robbie Capps Memorial Chapel of Blue Ridge Funeral Service. Reverend David Merritt will officiate. The burial will be held at Laurelton Chapel Cemetery following the service. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.

The family would like to thank the wonderful staff of Madison Health and Rehabilitation for their loving care of Kate, especially these last several weeks. And a special thanks to Bernice Fox for her friendship to Kate these past three years.