Joseph Melvin "Junior" Branham

Chester, SC Mr. Joseph Melvin Branhan, 86, died Monday, May 20, 2013 at C.M. Tucker Nursing Home in Columbia, SC.The funeral service will be 11:00 a.m. Thursday, May 23, 2013 at Trinity Presbyterian Church with Rev. Rick Wheeler and Rev. Matt Horne officiating. The interment will be held in Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends in the fellowship hall of Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church immediately following the interment. Born October 22, 1926 in Lugoff, SC, Mr. Branham was a son of the late Joseph M. Branham, Sr. and Irene Bowen Branham.He was a graduate of Blackstock High School and a US Army veteran having served during WWII.He was retired from Springs Industries with over forty years of service as a shift supervisor.He was a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church and a former member of Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church where he was an elder, deacon and a member of the choir. He was founder and leader of the Country Grass Bluegrass Band and a past master of Blackstock Masonic Lodge #180 and Hejaz Shrine Temple. He is survived by his wife of over sixty-nine years, Atha Keziah Branham; three sons, Joe R. Branham and his wife Brenda of Chester, SC, Wayne Branham and his wife Sue and Tracy Branham and his wife Carolyn all of Blackstock, SC; six grandchildren, Lisa Kanipe, Jody Branham, Rogers Branham, Margie Burton, Nikki Atkinson, Lance Branham; eight great grandchildren, Caitlin Rose Branham, Jordan Rae Branham, Seth Branham, Elijah Paul Tucker, Levi Richard Kanipe, Alexandria Kanipe, Ava Burton, and Andrew Burton and one brother, W.L. Branham of Blackstock, SC.He was preceded in death by a grandson Paul Timothy Branham. Memorials may be made to Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church, 1660 Pleasant Grove Road, Chester, SC 29706 or Trinity Presbyterian Church, 651 Great Falls Road, Chester, SC 29706. Online condolences for the family can be made at www.barronfuneralhome.com.