Obituary of Melissa "Verna Dean" Douglas
Melissa “Verna Dean” Humphreys Douglas, a resident of Houston, Texas and native of Grayson, Louisiana passed away on Wednesday, November 21, 2018, at the age of 92. A service with interment of ashes will take place April 13, 2019, at 2:30 PM at the Welcome Home Cemetery in Grayson, Louisiana. There will be no formal visitation before the service.
Verna was born in the community of Holum, near Grayson, Louisiana, on July 25, 1926, to the union of her parents, Davis Ralph Humphreys and Mary Ellen Stamper Humphreys. She remained in the Holum community with her parents and siblings until she graduated from Grayson High School. After high school, she briefly attended Northwestern State University of Louisiana in Natchitoches, LA. She put aside her studies to marry George Wesley Douglas in 1944, prior to his reporting for duty with the US Navy in Seattle, Washington. She joined him there and remained in Seattle until he was discharged at the end of WWII. At that time, they returned home to Louisiana to start their new life. They celebrated seventy-one anniversaries during their life together.
Verna was preceded in death by her father, Davis Ralph Humphreys; Mother, Mary Ellen Stamper
Humphreys; Husband, George Wesley Douglas; Brother, Hubert Davis Humphreys; Brothers-in-law, J. C. Taylor, O. A. “Billy” McKeithen, and Glen Wilburn Gilbert; Sister-in-law, Wilma Edna Douglas Gilbert, and nephew, Timothy Wayne Gilbert.
Verna is survived by her son, David Douglas, and wife, Lamar, of Houston; Daughter, Melissa Douglas Folks, and husband, Johnny, of Baton Rouge, LA; Grandsons, Steven Douglas and wife, Brittany, of Houston, TX, Wesley Douglas, and wife, Luciana, of Shreveport, LA; Jordan Mathews of Houston, TX; Andrew Folks and Stephen Folks; Granddaughters, Monica Mathews Dayanand, and husband, Nikhil Dayanand, of Houston, TX and Leslie Folks Brady. She left nine great-grandchildren to remember her, as well as, three nephews, James “Jim” Taylor; Robert “Bob” Taylor, and Michael Gilbert; niece, Glenda Gilbert Thornhill, and many more beloved cousins, family members, and friends.
On February 16, 2019, Verna was joined in her heavenly home by her sister, Mildred Humphreys Taylor McKeithen. The sisters will be interred separately, but at the same 2:30 PM service, on April 13, 2019, at Welcome Home Cemetery in Grayson, LA.
As a member of the United Methodist Church, Verna sang in her local UMC choirs in Jonesboro, LA; Collins, MS; Baton Rouge, LA; Arcadia, LA; and Shreveport, LA. She was an avid reader and gardener. She enjoyed people and always worked where she could interact with members of her local community.
Honorary pallbearers are Steven Douglas, Wesley Douglas, Bob Taylor, Jim Taylor, Mike Gilbert, James Thornhill, Johnny Folks, Andy Folks, Jordan Mathews, and Nikhil Dayanand. Memorial donations may be made to Jonesboro Methodist Church, Jonesboro, LA; Collins Methodist Church, Collins, MS; Broadmoor Methodist Church, Baton Rouge, LA; Arcadia Methodist Church, Arcadia, LA; Broadmoor Methodist Church, Shreveport, LA; The Methodist Children’s Home in Ruston, LA, or your favorite charity.
