Approaching 100, Melton’s mind, mower blades sharp

As is the case with retirees, Mr. Otis Melton no longer has a rigid schedule.

He can rise for the day when he chooses, most often around 6 a.m.

He always makes his bed and straightens his sitting area, “just in case I have company,” he says.

He showers and shaves, dresses impeccably. Many would have attributed his knack for being fashion forward to his late wife, Mae, however the credit goes to him.

“I still wear a suit and tie to church, although very few do, any more,” Mr. Melton said.

A hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, toast and jelly, precedes some time with a word-search book, just to keep his already sharp mind, and wit, in tact.

“You know, after I had a heart attack in 1990, I was put on this no fat diet, and ate turkey bacon. Then one day, I just thought, I am going to go back to eating pork, so now I eat pork bacon again,” he said.

Then it’s time to read through the mail, the newspaper, and browse through his computer emails, or maybe scan the thousands of photographs he has converted to electronic files.

He doesn’t watch much television, other than occasionally the news.

All the while, his incredible sound system accessible throughout his home, plays selections of instrumental classics, featuring piano or violin, his favorites.

He will get a little exercise, stretching or riding his “exercise bike” in his basement, tend to his tomato plants, mow his lawn when its needed, at the home he and the love of his life, his Mae, shared for over 50 years in the “Highlands” area of Fulton, since before the neighborhood became a part of the incorporated city of Fulton.

That’s the home the couple built after having designed the floor plan and solicited the services of someone to prepare it for $5, a requirement when arranging for a loan. The family eventually grew to include two daughters, Andrea Melton Sikes, and Connie Melton Vowell.

He enjoys worshipping together with his church family at Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in South Fulton, where he has served as a Sunday School Superintendent, Deacon and Elder.

“When the old church burned in 1995, and we built the new church located in South Fulton, Mae was very active in decorating that building,” he said.

It all sounds pretty typical for someone who worked for 41 years, until his 1981 retirement, from the United States Postal Service, where he served as an Assistant Post Master in Fulton, for 35 of those years.

During an interview last month, Mr. Melton was asked about his upcoming November birthday.

On Nov. 26, Otis Melton will join the less than 1% of the U.S. population, who have achieved a remarkable distinction, those who are centenarians, having reached the age of 100.

He was asked whether anything in particular, regarding his lifestyle, could attribute to his health and longevity.

“Well, I have always tried to take care of myself. I never smoked or drank. I did retire at 58, and Mae and I were able to enjoy traveling together. There is only one state we didn’t visit, and that was North Dakota. We were able to take a cruise, and see Mexico, Nova Scotia, Canada three times. Probably one thing I wish we had done, was take an Alaskan cruise, but we did get to walk out on a glacier in Canada,” he said.

Mr. Melton’s parents passed away at the age of 63 and 80. His father was a sharecropper, and he grew up in Water Valley. He had three brothers, and they all attended school in that little community.

His near lifelong interest in photography was first planted by a teacher at that little school, the seventh and eighth grade class sponsor, who had a camera.

“He took a lot of pictures,” Mr. Melton said, adding when he, himself, went off to work in Detroit after graduation, it was while there, he purchased his first camera, a Kodak Brownie Reflex.

His brother and sister-in-law lived in Detroit and he lived with them while earning money to continue his education at Murray in the Fall.

After Murray, Mr. Melton said the “war was on”, so he secured participation in a government program, which paid his way, to take up a trade, and he chose sheet metal.

He worked in Mayfield, and then relocated on to Connecticut, to build submarines. His military career ultimately included working as a flight engineer and pilot.

He enlisted in the service and served for three years in the Army/Air Force.

He met Mae in 1940, as she and some friends were in attendance for the Camp Beauregard Cemetery Decoration Day.

They dated off and on, he said, for three or four years before they married. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1994, and after celebrating a total of 73 years together, she passed away five years ago.

“She could sew anything. She would sew for a lot of people. She was a good cook, too. She made this dish with pork chops, potatoes and onions, all in a big dish. That was a favorite of mine. She also made the best chocolate pie and coconut pie,” he said.

Mr. Melton’s daughters and sons-in-law live close by, as Andrea and her husband after retirement, moved to Fulton, from Texas, and now reside in one wing of the Highlands family home, after having completed renovations to allow for Mr. Melton’s privacy, as well as their own. The arrangement works well, as they all take care of each other, Andrea said.

Connie and her husband, Kirk Vowell, reside in Fulton County.

Following a stroke in 2018, Mr. Melton no longer drives. Fortunately, the stroke left no physical or mental impact, other than the occasional use of a walker when he is standing for extended periods of time.

Other than the heart attack, and the stroke, from which he fully recovered, Mr. Melton has had no major health issues.

“I guess I am doing pretty good,” he said.

Before the interview ended, Mr. Melton guided me to his computer, to show me some of the many photographs, as well as slides, he has transferred onto his computer.

The carefully cataloged files are captured in sharp focus, as clear as the memories recalled with each frame’s appearance on the monitor.

Quite often, he states that “this one” is one of his favorites, including one of a youthful beauty named Mae.

I asked if he had any big plans for his special birthday.

“I don’t really make any plans much, any more. I just get up each day and enjoy doing what I can do,” he said.

That sounds like the perfect plan, Mr. Melton.