Melissa Ann Fletcher

A family-led Celebration of Life Service for Melissa Ann Fletcher, age 81, of Lubbock, Texas will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 5, 2024 at Morton Methodist Church in Morton, Texas with Kelly Inman and Chris Fletcher officiating. Mrs. Fletcher passed away at Rock Creek Nursing and Rehabilitation in Sulphur Springs, Texas on Friday, September 20, 2024.

Ann Fletcher, known affectionately by her grandchildren as “Nonnie,” passed away on Friday, September 20, 2024 at 8:44 in the evening. She was surrounded by her children in her final moments and held close in the prayers of many during her decline. She is and will be dearly missed, though there is also gratitude that her pain shall be no more.

Born Melissa Ann Brooks on August 24, 1943 in Lubbock, Texas to Reverend M. Horace Brooks and Amoret Tunnell Brooks. Ann developed a deep love of music and devotion to the piano in her early life, which defined much of her purpose and passions throughout her days. Though she proclaimed her hands were too small to become a concert pianist, she practiced diligently and grew into a beautiful musician. 

Just before her senior year of high school, Ann’s father became the pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Muleshoe, Texas. The whole family moved, and this is where she met the love of her life, Lyndall Wayne Fletcher, who would soon become her husband. 

Lyndall and Ann married on June 1, 1963 at her father’s church in Denver City shortly before Ann earned her B.S. degree in Music from McMurry College in Abilene, Texas. They had two wonderful children together: Christopher Brook, born September 1, 1966 and Keri DeLaine, born July 13, 1972.

Ann passed on the chance to pursue becoming a concert pianist in favor of the calling she found as a teacher instead. She wholeheartedly served her family and community with her talents; over her 33 years as a teacher, she shared her great love of music with thousands of children, and her energetic music programs garnered a beloved following who still recollect and celebrate them to this day. Lyndall became a pastor, and together they loved their churches and served their congregations as an amazing ministry team - him from the pulpit and her from the piano bench.

Beyond music, Ann loved to read, played a mean game of Yahtzee, and could often be found sipping on her daily diet coke. Though she was adamant about not sleeping on the ground (preferring the camper or hotel, instead), Ann’s love of nature and adventure was most evident in her delight of snow skiing. Above all, her loyalty and priority remained with her family; she loved BIG, and her children and grandchildren are the principal recipients of the legacy her presence has left behind. 

Every Christmas, she ensured her family enjoyed her egg-a-la-goldenrod and indulged in her black bottom pie. Her cooking for this special holiday was paralleled only by her knack for finding the most unique gifts; come Christmas morning, loved ones were always eager to discover what she’d hidden inside their stockings hanging by the fire.

Melissa Ann “Nonnie” Fletcher is preceded by her beloved Reverend Lyndall Wayne “Hoppy” Fletcher, who passed on April 6, 2019, and her parents Rev. M Horace Brooks and Amoret Tunnell “Meme” Brooks. May they all rest in holy peace.

She is survived by most of her large and loving family. They include her children (Chris and his wife, Christine, of Lubbock and Keri and her husband, Kelly, of Sulphur Springs), her grandchildren (Kyle David and his wife, Lucy, of Atlanta, GA; Kayli Brooke of Sulphur Springs; William and Lawson Fletcher of Tulia), her sister (Marka Lynn White and her husband, Charles White, of The Woodlands), along with many beloved cousins, nieces, nephews and other extended family. 

Her life was big; her love was big, and the weight of her loss is big as well. The family is planning to celebrate their beloved Nonnie with one of the things she treasured most: music. They are glad she is no longer suffering and find comfort from the lyrics of her favorite hymn, Hymn of Promise: 

“In our end is our beginning
In our time, infinity
In our doubt, there is believing
In our life, eternity
In our death, a resurrection
At the last, a victory
Unrevealed until its season
Something God alone can see.”