Capital City Mourns Death of Mayor Frank Melton

Jackson Mayor Frank Melton 1949-1990

Funeral arrangements for Jackson Mayor Frank Melton are incomplete. But as MPB's Lawayne Childrey reports both critics and supporters of the mayor continue mourning his loss.

“At the end of the day, you know it’s about your personal significance I mean what do you do that adds value to other people’s lives?”

That's the late Jackson Mayor Frank Melton discussing what he thought should perhaps be his legacy on MPB's Mississippi Edition early last year. The 60 year old Mayor died early Thursday morning after collapsing at his home Tuesday night with an apparent heart attack. Acting Mayor, Leslie McLemore believes Melton’s legacy began long before Melton even took the oath of office. He points to Melton’s community involvement, the way he fought crime and the way he encouraged young people to stay in school.

“That’s why he emphasized to the police department, let’s keep truants off the street, let’s pickup young people. Let’s take them to school, let’s take them to their families to find out why they were not in school on that particular day.”
Ironically Mayor Melton's death comes just two days after losing a primary re-election bid and days before he was set to stand trial on federal civil rights charges for destroying a Jackson home he suspected of being a crack house.. Donna Ladd, editor-in-chief of the Jackson Free Press says during an interview shortly after the mayors 1st federal trial ended, Mayor Melton told her he was only running for re-election because he felt it was the only thing he could do.
“I think he knew that it was going to be a harder sell this time with everything that happened. And he had actually said to me then that he hopes that the city allows him to die with dignity because he knew that he was a very sick man. And to me those comments were kind of ironic considering this. And my since though is that even his biggest critics are praying for him.”
Funeral services for Mayor Melton are expected to be held in Jackson as well as his Family's Home state of Texas. For MPB News, I'm Lawayne Childrey.