Merle Sue Gamble Salmon

Merle Sue Gamble Lane Salmon of Chattanooga, Tennessee passed away peacefully on Thursday, April 30, 2020.  She was 83 years old.  Merle was born in Beggs, Oklahoma but grew up in Chattanooga’s Alton Park area.  She married and moved to Cincinnati, Ohio for several years where her children were born and attended elementary school. 

After returning to Chattanooga, Merle attended secretarial school and became an administrative assistant.  She worked for the Tennessee Chest Disease Hospital, Moccasin Bend Hospital, the City of Chattanooga and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga before retiring.  She had a talent for making ends meet with very little.  She made many sacrifices to raise her three children while teaching them invaluable lessons, right from wrong, honesty, and the value of hard work. 

Merle's great loves were her children and grandchildren and the mention of a grandchild's name would bring a smile to her face.  She loved eating out at restaurants, crocheting, day trips and doing crossword puzzles. 

She suffered unimaginably for the past several years from an Alzheimer's type condition.  Merle will be missed but we are grateful that God loves His child so dearly and she is now free from pain and suffering. 

Merle's parents, Ollie Gamble and Nannie Lou Loyd Gamble McGee, preceded her in death, as did her brother, Walter Loyd Gamble and former husbands, Dexter Lane and Jim Salmon.  Her beloved daughter, Teresa Lane Smith, died many years ago and Merle was never to recover.

Surviving Merle is her daughter, Debbie Lane Youngblood of Flintstone, Georgia and son, Bryan G, Lane (Brenda) of Cleveland, TN; grandchildren Eric and Meresa Youngblood, Gabriel Smith and Ara and Matthew Lane; great grandchildren, Kahler and Ander Youngblood, Rhianna and Luka Verholek, Garrett and Maya Smith and Katie Lane. 

There will be a graveside memorial service for Merle in the coming weeks.

Charitable remembrances may be made to the charity of your choice or to Rock Creek Fellowship Church of Lookout Mountain, GA.

You may view and send condolences to the Salmon family guest book at www.serenityfunerals.com.

Serenity of Cleveland Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.