Melba “Mick” L. Tyson, 94, of Idyllwild and St. Louis, Mo., died Thursday, Sept. 7, 2000, at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage.

Mick was born at home in Champion City, Mo., on April 11, 1906, to Florence E. Koelling and Sophie Buttermueler Koelling. She was the ninth of 10 born to this couple.

Mick studied interior design at Washington University in St. Louis and subsequently traveled in the Middle West selling and implementing interior and upholstery designs.

She won many leg and beauty contests as a young woman and was invited to be a Ziegfeld Follies dancer.

Mick was a successful dog breeder raising and selling toy poodles, Maltese, schnauzers, and Yorkies.

Mick was a deaconess in the Presbyterian Church in St. Louis.

Mick visited Idyllwild in the early 1980s and moved here in 1991. She spent the 1990s living in Idyllwild and St. Louis. She loved the tall trees in Idyllwild.

She was preceeded in death by her husbands, William (Bill) H. Tyson and Judson Rainey Tyson.

Mick is survived by her daughter, Kay Tyson of Idyllwild and St. Louis, Mo.; two brothers, Ted and Hadley Koelling, and a sister-in-law, Blue Koelling, all of Sullivan, Mo.; many nieces and nephews nationwide; and many friends.

A celebration of Life Service/Party will be held Sunday, Sept. 17, 2000, at 2 p.m., at the home of Jean Stein, located at 55517 Howland in Fern Valley.