Melba Whitecotton Clapp was born on December 20, 1931, to Beulah and ZT Whitecotton in Uvalde, TX, where she met her future husband at the age of 16.  She was a young schoolgirl, and he was a handsome Lackland Air Force man based in San Antonio. He came to Uvalde with a friend for the weekend.  It was love at first sight.  She went home and told her mother she was going to marry “that” man.  Months later they were married, and the rest is history.  Together they had three boys, David, Don and Andy.

Melba learned to knit very early as a child.  Growing up she designed and knitted sweaters, caps, dresses, pillows, and anything that came to her mind.  She became a very accomplished designer and was commissioned by Bernat and Berroco Yarn Co. to design and make many different products for the company to sell.  Her sales were worldwide and even sold by Grace Jones of Salado.

Melba loved baseball and encouraged her boys to play from a very early age.  She attended every ballgame of every son, sitting in the stands knitting and keeping score.  As an avid baseball fan who loved the Yankees and Dodgers, she would keep a record of each pitch, hit, and out, for all the ball games she watched.  Her stats stand today.  When a son told her he wanted to hit high and outside pitches, she simply replied: “Just hit the strikes!”.

After leaving their home in Uvalde, she and her husband, Ken, moved to Killeen and then to Austin because of his rising career. While living in Austin they decided to build a “get away” house in Salado.  It took many years and three different construction projects to complete.  They moved from Austin to Salado permanently in 1984.

Ken loved his Mercedes and traded for a new one each year.  Melba’s love was a BMW with a supercharged engine.  After his passing, she started trading her BMW every year, even if it was hardly driven.

Melba loved horses but late in life, while riding her son Don’s horse, she fell and chose to stop riding.

Melba died on Tuesday, October 29th, in Seton Hospital, Harker Heights, with her sons by her side.

Melba is preceded in death by her husband Ken. She is survived by her three sons: David and wife Becky; Don and children, Natalie Reichert and Jenny Osborne; Andy and wife Randy, and daughter, Johnna Binsted, plus eight great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.

Services for Melba will be on Thursday, November 7, 2024, at Broecker Funeral Home Chapel with a visitation starting at 10:00 AM; service at 11:00 AM with Joe Keyes officiating, followed by interment in Salado Historic Cemetery.