Michael P. Melvin

Michael Paul Melvin, 71, Sioux Falls, S.D., died August 7, 2015, peacefully at his home. 

He was born in San Pedro, Calif., on September 3, 1943, to Paul and Betty (Buchholz) Melvin. Mike attended St. John's grade school, Cathedral High School, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, and Watertown Lake Area Technical. After his schooling, Mike worked for the Western Cattle Company. 

He was united in marriage to Judy Oldenberg on May 2, 1964, in Hot Springs. Mike and Judy had 51 wonderful years together. They started their marriage in Philip and raised their family in Rapid City and Sioux Falls.

Mike's love of technology led to employment with Solar Sound, AT&T and CSD. Even in retirement, he remained active helping others with new technologies. His family relied heavily on his skills, and have no idea where Mike kept all of the passwords. 

Mike was a member at St. Michaels Church and president of the Kingswood Association. He was an avid reader and especially loved a good murder mystery. Mike was a life long learner and was a source of endless knowledge. He made sure his children knew the difference between a flat head and a Phillips-head screwdriver at a very young age. Mike spent countless hours researching his and Judy's family genealogy, exploring many cemeteries, homesteads and databases. He was able to discover many generations of each family and was proud of his research. 

As a young boy, Mike spent summers with his aunts and uncles on ranches and loved working hard and being with family. In recent years, Mike would return West River and help with haying and ranch work. 

Mike's wife, children and grandchildren were the joy in his life. When his boys were young, he coached every one of their baseball teams and cherished the time he spent with them and their teammates. Mike was at all of his daughters’ concerts, games and performances, always making time for them. He never missed one of his grandchildren's activities and was their number one fan. Mike was a wonderful husband, dad and grandpa and will be greatly missed by his family.

Grateful for having shared his life are his wife of 51 years, Judy; children, Kevin (Shilah) Melvin, Mountain Grove, Mo.; Kelly (Stacey Mostaert) Melvin, Brandon; Kim (Dave) Sechser and Kristy (Craig) Dillon, both of Sioux Falls; grandchildren, Jake, Chandler, Cameron, Jillian, Gus, Steele, Gracie, Shauna, Aidan, Brian, Dylan, Dawson, Natalie and Harper.

Mass of Christian burial was celebrated August 11, 2015, at St. Michael Parish in Sioux Falls.