Melba S. Lehner

Melba S. Lehner 1907 ~ 2004 OGDEN – Melba Stuart Lehner, 96, died Thursday, April 8, 2004 at her home in Ogden. She was born August 10, 1907 in Wellsville, Utah, a daughter of Daniel H. and Elizabeth W. Walters Stuart. She married Thomas J. Judge in 1930. They later divorced. In 1950, Melba married Joseph A. Lehner in Ogden. Joseph preceded her in death in 1976. She was reared and educated in the Wellsville area and received her B.S. and M.S. degrees from Utah State University. She completed her graduate work in all areas of family relations at Berkeley, the University of Chicago, and the University of Oklahoma. She also received an honorary Doctorate of Humanities degree from Weber State University. She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Melba was one of Utah's first pioneers in teaching the importance of child development, parenting and the need for quality child care. She joined the Weber State faculty in 1946 as part of the home economics department. Based on her previous experience operating nursery schools under the Works Progress Administration, and with the approval of WSC President H. Aldous Dixon, she began an experimental pre-school in 1950. In 1952, Melba came to chair the Family Life Department and served as chairman until 1969. Since that time, the Melba S. Lehner Children's School has served as a laboratory for a variety of worthy programs. More than 5000 children and students have been positively influenced by the quality of the school's curriculum. The school also served as an on-site training ground for the national Head Start program. Additionally, this facility has helped innumerable mothers and fathers find professional support and respect in their challenging roles as parents; supported hundred of students in the process of learning to create curriculum designed to encourage childhood growth; and provided Weber State faculty with opportunities for original research and demonstration projects in the field of child development. Melba had been known as "an innovative educator whose ideas were literally 50 years ahead of her time". She retired from WSC in 1972. She was a life member of the Utah PTA Board. She served for six years as Parent Education Chairman and for three years as the Pre-School Chairman. Melba was a great gardener, enjoyed traveling and reading, and was an excellent cook and seamstress. Surviving are her daughter, Janice Judge Johnston Dee and her husband Thomas D. Dee, Ogden; two granddaughters, Elizabeth J. Huebner and her husband Steve; Jennifer J. Furch and her husband Spencer; and two great-grandchildren, Katie Huebner and Brian Furch. Preceding her in death were her husband, parents, three sisters and one brother. Funeral services will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Lindquist's Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd. Friends may call at the mortuary on Saturday from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. Interment, Wellsville City Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Melba S. Lehner Children's School at Weber State University, the McKay-Dee Foundation, or a charity of your choice. Email condolences to the family at lom@lindquistmortuary.com