Was in Geary Co, KS in the 1950’s and in Manhattan, KS in 1960, living with her parents.
[Obituary]
Iris's identity was wrapped up in her family: blood, adoptive, foster, and spiritual alike. Iris loved her family, and their faithfulness to the Lord. She insisted on it! She was happiest when she could spend as much time with her family as possible. If plans were being made, her children and grandchildren knew to send her an invitation even if she had to turn it down due to her failing health.
Family meant so much to her that she chose to live her life trying to make that family as expansive as possible through adoption and foster care. From the time she was a young woman her desire was to either be a missionary for the cause of Christ or a foster parent. As God would have it, He blessed her and her husband of 61 years with the opportunity to be foster parents. The goal was to help as many young people to come to the Lord as possible and that goal was achieved many times over. In her younger married life, she also worked as horticulturists in several greenhouses in Parker, Colorado.
In all the work she served in throughout her life, her greatest accomplishment was her remarkable, thoughtful, caring, loving and compassionate servitude as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, grandmother and great grandmother.
Iris grew up on a wheat farm near Manhattan, Kansas. Her adolescent and young adult life knew what it meant to work hard. She sustained a number of injuries as a young girl and young woman on the farm but one she mentioned more than all others was when her brother accidentally threw a pitchfork into her foot! She knew what it was like to walk on dirt floors in her childhood farm home and she knew the difficulty and scarcity of the great depression. Her mother never let her forget how, one time, she used an entire month's worth of government rations of salt, pepper, butter and ketchup to make what she called, "cat soup."
She never relented from that way of life as she was always a hard worker, whether that was gardening and canning food or simply keeping a huge household of children fed, clothed, healthy, and nurtured in the Lord.
Her ability to make the very best tasting communion bread was indeed fit for a king; her children and grandchildren ate it as fast as she could make it. Some mothers are great pie makers, perhaps others have great casseroles, however Iris's specialty was her mastery of her heavenly cinnamon rolls, which usually made their appearance at Christmas time. It was always the premier treat.
From the time she married Robert Sr., Iris lived in numerous places in Colorado and again, briefly, in Kansas. She had the privilege of being a member at a handful of local churches of Christ where she encouraged others and was encouraged by many who lent to her maturity and faithfulness in the Lord. Many life long friends resulted from those times.
Iris enjoyed painting for her entire adult life. Some of her most recent will be pictured in the service folder at her memorial/celebration of life, and on physical display there. Though she never attempted to sell her paintings, they are priceless to those she gave them to. She also enjoyed outdoor activities like hiking, eating meals at restaurants with family, gardening or simply shopping with her favorite shopping partners, her two daughters. If her family was gathered, that's where she wanted to be. She enjoyed small home marketing businesses and even though they tended to cost her more money than she made with them, they were therapeutic to her as her library of businesses grew larger over the years. She was always proud of her self-taught extensive knowledge in holistic and natural health. It served her well over the years as she was always very strong and independent up until the last 6 months of her life. She was an avid listener to A-Capella music, and she also had a few favorite artists such as Vince Gill, Neil Diamond, Josh Groban, Andre Bocelli, Celtic thunder, and Carry Underwood.
After their arrival, one of her favorite hobbies was finding little things to give her grandchildren and great grandchildren during her shopping sprees. She was always thinking of them.
If Iris is remembered for anything, it will be her Job-like patience when others would have folded, combined with her Moses-like frustration over things happening in the world that simply did not align with her godly heart. She was as meek at times as she was outspoken at others. She truly loved everyone God placed in her life. She was admired by so many who will never forget her. Iris was indeed one of a kind who simply cannot be replaced. So many, including her dear family, look forward to that wonderful reunion in heaven. She has gone on before them as one more witness to the magnificent promises the Lord has made to His faithful.
Iris was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Phyllis and her brother Gerald. She is survived by her husband Robert Melton Sr, her three children, Philana, Robert Jr., and Tarka, her five grandchildren, Samantha and her spouse Tyler, Quincy, Aaron and his spouse Layne, Kylee and her spouse Lynn, and Darian, as well as three great-grandchildren, Luke, Ariel, and soon to be Crew, along with several cousins, nieces and nephews.