What started out as a simple idea in 2010 to create something special for my close friend who was battling breast cancer quickly turned into a labor of love! I wanted a gift that would comfort my friend, Laura Farris, while going through chemo, surgery, and the effects of breast cancer. I created what has become known as the “LOVEwrap”!

My mom, Melba Ray Love, my mom’s mother, and both of my aunts died from breast cancer. I wish I’d had the LOVEwraps way back then. Many other Love family members have had and received the wraps. So, while they are in honor of my friend, Laura Farris, they have the name Love because of my love for Laura and the Love name and family members.

Since then, I decided to add other products under what we now call our LOADS OF LOVE category. Loads of Love was created to honor my mom, Melba Love Hamby, and the Love Family with product offerings made with LOVE from the heart!

– Perri Jennings

Melba Love Hamby

Melba Ray Love

Melba Ray Love was born on August 1, 1940 in Spur, Texas to Herbert & Donnie Garrison Love. The Love family, including her two sisters and two brothers, departed Spur and moved to Lovington, New Mexico in 1953 to open and operate Love Boot Shop.

Melba moved to Lubbock Texas where she met and married her husband, Richard Hamby, in July, 1960, while he was attending and later graduated from Texas Tech University. The family, with the additions of their daughter and son, made their home in Socorro, New Mexico where Melba owned a furniture upholstery business and worked alongside her family in their farming and ranching business.

Melba was a member of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church where she taught Sunday School and played the organ for church services. She was also a member of the Socorro Bowling League and volunteer for Socorro County Fair, Sacaton CowBelles, Maverick 4-H Club, and Socorro Cowboy Polo Club. Being the
daughter of boot makers that designed, built, and finished every pair of custom boots by hand, Melba was a talented seamstress creating, alongside Norma Sparks, all the dance costumes for Sue Cottom’s School of Dance.

In 1978, Melba returned to Lovington to help with the Love family business and became Congressional Secretary for U.S. Congressman Harold Runnels, in his New Mexico 2nd district office in Lea County, until his death in 1980. Additional career opportunities included Executive Director for Lovington Chamber of Commerce, Business Manager for Runnels Mud Company, Foreclosure Specialist for Moncor Bank, Lea County Tax Assessor, the only Assessor to hold the office for 12 consecutive years, Special Assessments Agent for City of Albuquerque, Secretary for Lea County Soil & Water Conservation, and Lea County Probate Judge until her final, of many retirements, in 2014. Melba was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Lovington and a bell ringer in the Bell Choir. She was a volunteer for Lea County Junior Livestock Sale, Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame, Lea County Museum, and Lea County Federation of Republican Women.

Melba never met a stranger because she believed that everyone she crossed paths with she should become acquainted with as they might know something she needed to know and vice-a-versa. Her one-of-a-kind wit and storytelling impacted everyone who knew and loved her.

Melba Love Hamby
August 1, 1940 – January 28, 2023
A life of beauty and service