Ouda P. Gresham of Columbus, Mississippi

September 4, 1929 - July 10, 2020

Ouda Pace Gresham

Ouda Pace Gresham, 90, formerly of Columbus, died July 10 in Hoover, Alabama, after a short illness.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, July 18, at Memorial Gunter Peel Funeral Home, 716 Second Avenue North , Columbus. Rev. Ken Letson, pastor, The Church at Shelby Crossings in Calera, Alabama, will officiate. The family will receive friends from 10 to 11 a.m. at the funeral home. Interment will immediately follow at Memorial Gardens Cemetery.

Ouda Shellyn Pace was born September 4, 1929, in Sebastopol, Mississippi, the daughter of the late John Oliver and Maggie Lyle Pace. She grew up in Lena, Mississippi, and attended Lena Schools. She received a bachelor’s degree in education from Mississippi College and later earned a master’s degree in education from Mississippi State University.

On October 9, 1955, she married William James Gresham, Jr., of Carthage, Mississippi. They lived in Mississippi, California and Texas during his service in the U.S. Air Force before retiring in Columbus. Ouda taught school for 25 years in Mississippi, completing her career as a business education teacher at Caldwell High School in Columbus.

Ouda was active in the First Baptist Church of Columbus for many years. After retirement, she moved first to Bolivar, Missouri, and later to St. Augustine, Florida, to live near her children. She was an active member of Anastasia Baptist Church in St. Augustine and served faithfully in the church’s preschool ministry for 20 years. Most recently, she was a regular attender and volunteer at The Church at Shelby Crossings in Calera, Alabama, where her daughter was minister to families. She also was a member of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and actively involved in genealogical projects and organizations.

Survivors include her daughter, Shellyn Gresham Poole (Philip) of Hoover; her son, William Oliver Gresham, of St. Augustine; four granddaughters, Melissa Poole Kirby (Todd) of Daphne, Alabama; Caroline Poole Love (Kerry) of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Chelsea Gresham (Chris Thompson) of Tampa, Florida; and Sami Lynn Gresham of Winter Garden, Florida; two great-granddaughters, Olivia Shellyne Kirby and Anne Willson Kirby; two sisters, Rosaline Pace Walker of Roeton, Alabama, and John Ann Pace Miller of Germantown, Tennessee; one brother, George Lyle Pace (Ollie Kathryn) of Nashville, North Carolina; a sister-in-law, DeAnn Pace of Fairborn, Ohio; and a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was predeceased by her husband, her parents, and a brother, Oliver Lauren Pace.

The family has suggested that in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to The Church at Shelby Crossings, 532 George Roy Parkway, Calera, Alabama 35040, online at shelbycrossings.com, or Anastasia Baptist Church, 1650 A1A South, St. Augustine, Florida 32080, online at Anastasiachurch.org.

In accordance with local ordinances, masks will be required at the funeral home and appropriate social distancing guidelines will be observed.