Melba C. Dudley

Melba C. Dudley, 81, of Carlsbad, NM passed away on Saturday, September 14, 2024, at Lakeview Christian Home. Melba was born on August 24, 1943, in Weed, NM to Russell and Hallen Guilliams.

 Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 PM Wednesday, September 18, 2024, at Denton-Wood Funeral Home with Pastor Jimmy Ryan officiating. Interment will follow at the Carlsbad Cemetery in Carlsbad, NM.

 Melba graduated from Carlsbad High School in 1962, and afterwards married Jack Wallace and started a family together. She married Ermil Dudley in 1974. She had a love for all children and spent many years working as a school bus driver at Ballard Bus Company. Melba had a strong faith in God, and she held true to her Pentecostal beliefs. She also enjoyed watching football and keeping up to date with her news programs and politics. She enjoyed shopping and keeping her house meticulously clean. Melba most of all loved her family, and she would spend each moment she had with them making memories to last a lifetime. She will be dearly missed and never forgotten.

 Melba was preceded in death by her father, Russell V. Guilliams; mother, Hallen (Ross) Guilliams; stepmother, Louise Guilliams; 1st husband, Jack Donald Wallace; 2nd husband, Ermil Ray Dudley; son, James Lynn Wallace; two grandchildren: Jaron Wallace and Jeffrey Peters; and three brothers: Jimmy Durham, Danny Durham, and Leon Guilliams.

 Melba is survived by six children: Terry Wallace and wife, Paula of Loving, NM; Kevin Dudley of Carlsbad, NM; Lisa Ryan and husband, Dan of Carlsbad, NM; Ray Peters and wife, Minnie of Carlsbad, NM; Raymond Peters of Carlsbad, NM; and Melissa Carpenter and husband, Donny of Dimmitt, TX; brother, Don Guilliams and wife, Linda of West Plains, MO; fifteen grandchildren; and numerous great grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

 Condolences may be expressed online at dentonwood.com