Mary "Medley" Fowler

Mary Edlyn “Medley” Melsheimer Fowler of Vicksburg MS died peacefully on 17 December 2019 at the age of 80. Medley grew up in the city of Vicksburg. She attended St Francis Xavier Academy and Hinds Junior College. She completed nursing training at the Mercy Hospital Nursing School. She worked as a nurse in Oxford, MS to put her husband Jack through college, eventually returning to school at University of Mississippi Medical Center to obtain her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing. She was awarded the Balfour Award in Nursing for Academic Excellence. She served as an instructor at the Sisters of Mercy School of Nursing for several years before changing her career to full time mother to raise four children. Ms. Medley became a prominent supporter of Vicksburg Swim and Soccer Associations and supporter of her children at basketball, softball, swimming, soccer, and band events. She returned to nursing in the 1980’s, venturing into Public Health at the Warren County Health Department. She became the Assistant County Coordinator and “The TB Nurse”. She received the Mary D. Osborne Public Health Nurse Award for her work on the evaluation and treatment of over 1000 cases of tuberculosis and was cited as a major contributor to the National Institutes of Health publication on the largest outbreak of TB. She retired from Public Health after 20 years of service. She had a beautiful voice and sang in many school choirs as a teenager and continued singing as an adult into her seventies. During her lifetime, she was a member of the Vicksburg Community, Vicksburg Chamber, and St Paul Choirs. Medley was an active member of the “Road Gang”, a group of early morning walkers in the Vicksburg National Military Park. She was also an active member of the Steel Magnolias, the Retired Nurses Association, and the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation Book Club.

Medley was preceded in death by her parents Edwin and Mary Melsheimer. She is survived by her children Joan Fowler of Silver Spring MD, Laura Callaway, Amy Horne (Geoff), and Eric Fowler (Cindy Veazey) of Vicksburg. Grandchildren include Jessica Callaway, Robin Callaway (Steven Pearson), Gabe Fowler-Kammann. Great-grandchildren include Parker Callaway and Matthew Bullock. She is survived by her brother Sam Melsheimer (Therese) of Neotsu, OR. Other close family members include Sandra Fowler, Brenda Sims, and Bump and Peggy Callaway.

A visitation will be held at 2:00 pm on Sunday 22 December 2019 followed by a celebration of life at 3:00 pm in the Chapel at Glenwood Funeral Home, 145 US Hwy 80, Vicksburg MS. Medley will be cremated, so there will be no burial. Please no flowers. Memorials may be given to the Batson Children’s Hospital.

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