Melvin
George White
Great Falls Tribune, Great Falls,
Montana, 22 September 2020
Great Falls-We lost one of the good ones on Thursday, September 17, 2020, when Melvin "Mel" George White, 85, of Great Falls, left this world, surrounded by his loving family. A Funeral Service will be held Saturday, September 26th at 2:00 PM in the Rose Room Chapel at Croxford Funeral Home with Burial to follow at Highland Cemetery, with full military honors.
Our beloved Mel was born on August 19, 1935 in
Montpelier, ID to Ernest and Helen (Field) White. He graduated from Montpelier
High School in May of 1954 and joined the Air Force shortly after, serving in
Texas, Colorado and Japan from 1955-1957. The Air Force moved him to Maelstrom
Air Force Base in Great Falls in 1957, where he met Kay St. Jermain at the local
roller-skating rink and they married in 1958. He took an APR weapons mechanical
course during his Air Force training, and after his honorable discharge in 1959,
he became a sheet metal worker. Mel joined Sheet Metal Workers Union 103 and
began working at Falls Plumbing and Heating. He then moved to Nelson Plumbing
and Heating, where he spent the majority of his career though he also worked for
other companies in the area.
A family man, Mel volunteered for many years with the Boy Scouts
of America, attended all the Boy Scout and Girl Scout meetings, 4-H shows,
sporting events and concerts that he could for his children and grandchildren.
Folks who knew him, loved his sense of humor - he was always quick with a joke
and a smile. Mel loved the outdoors, hunting, fishing, camping, motorcycling,
snowmobiling, or just taking long drives with his family - the Little Belt
Mountains may as well have been his backyard. He was a "jack of all trades", a
mechanic, carpenter, welder and master of home projects.
Survivors include his loving wife, M. Kay White
of Great Falls; sons, Ernest "Erny" (Ann) White of Milwaukee, OR, Neil White of Great
Falls and Wayde White of Redfield, SD; daughter, Rhonda "Roni" White of Tigard,
OR; 11 grandchildren, Echo, Dustin, Valerie, Alex, Tyler, Jared, Zackary, Amiya,
Taelyn, Tayson and Alayna plus 11 great-grandchildren.
Those who have preceded him in death include his father, Ernest; mother, Helen;
brother, Orvil; sisters, Dorothy, Donna and Ethel; grandson, Benjamin;
father-in-law, John; mother-in-law, Martha; sisters-in-law, Marilyn and Cheryl.