Melba J. Sayler, 96, of Fernandina Beach, Fla., passed away Wednesday, July 31, 2019 at Community Hospice & Palliative Care’s Warner Center for Caring in Fernandina Beach, Fla.
She was born in Brunswick, Ga. to the late Samuel and Pearl Allen Jones and moved to Fernandina Beach when she was a young child.
A longtime member of First Baptist Church, Mrs. Sayler was baptized there May 22, 1938. As a child, she was a member of the Sunbeams and always remembered her Sunday school class beginning each Sunday session with the singing of “On Sunday, I Am Happy.” She often recalled her many happy memories of growing up at First Baptist. Later as an adult in the church, she would teach those “Sunbeams,” work with the GAs and the Youth Group, teach Sunday school, visit the sick and shut-in, and serve wherever she could.
In January of 1941, she married Samuel W. “Sammy” Sayler Jr. Their marriage would continue until his passing in 2014. As a young wife, she worked for Bell Telephone as an operator. She recalled with great detail working on Pearl Harbor Day and how the day unfolded as the sad news filtered into Fernandina. As a homemaker, she raised her daughter, Beth, and was there to help as a “Homeroom Mother” and the Girl Scouts.
Mrs. Sayler’s rich life spanned nearly a century and allowed her to witness many wonderful things and many huge changes in her community and society at large.
In addition to her parents and her husband, she was predeceased by her sister, Margie Harrell.
She leaves behind her daughter, Beth Park of Fernandina Beach; four grandchildren, Ray (Jennifer) Park of Fernandina Beach, Ann (Jamie) McKinnon of Yulee, Fla., Jimmy (Debbie) Park of Douglas, Ga., and Tommy Park of Eagle, Idaho; and eight great-grandchildren, Jamie Lynne (Todd) Dill, Chris (Chastity) Park, Hunter McKinnon, Mason Park, Ashley Park, Josh Park, Allie Park, and Kaleb Park, as well as five great-great-grandchildren, Kinsley Park, Gabriel Bell, Bella Park, Christopher Thomas Park, and Xander Park. Mrs. Sayler also leaves behind many friends and extended family members.
Funeral services were held at 11 a.m. Monday, August 5, 2019 in the Burgess Chapel of Oxley-Heard Funeral Directors with Rev. Shad Goltz of First Baptist Church officiating. The family received friends from 10 a.m. until the hour of the service. Todd Dill, Chris Park, Hunter McKinnon, Mason Park, Josh Park, and Kaleb Park served as pallbearers. She was laid to rest beside her husband in Bosque Bello Cemetery.
Please share your memories and condolences at www.oxleyheard.com.
Oxley-Heard Funeral Directors