Breyfogle, Melvin S. (1926-2016)
BREYFOGLE, SINS, BEVINS, PRINN, GRIFFITH
Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 11/22/2016 at 11:40:31
Melvin Breyfogle
February 10, 1926 - July 18, 2016Melvin S. Breyfogle, a son of Merle and Emma (Sins) Breyfogle, was born on February 10, 1926, in Alta, Iowa. He passed away peacefully at his home on Monday, July 18, 2016, in Estherville, Iowa, at the age of 90.
Melvin received his education in the Alta schools, graduating from Alta High School in 1943. He served as an Electrician's Mate in the United States Navy aboard the USS Laws in the South Pacific during World War II. In 1946, he married Betty Lee Bevins. They moved to Estherville in 1947 where Melvin owned and operated Brey’s Radio for sixty-nine years. Betty Lee died in 1993.
A member of the American Legion as well as several Amateur Radio organizations, Melvin, first, became interested in radios as a boy. At the age of twelve, he built a tube radio from salvaged parts and junk batteries. He said his interest in radios grew after this first success when this one tube radio pulled in a broadcast from London, England.
In about 1953, local ham radio operators encouraged Melvin to become an amateur radio operator too. Indeed, they helped him in testing and certification. He repaid this help over the rest of his life by helping others gain certification and often donating used equipment to get them started. In 2013, he was recognized as a sixty-year member of the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL).
The simple radio shop grew in the post war 1950s to include TVs, both black and white and later color, as well as communication equipment for fire and police vehicles. Melvin provided over fifty years of service to the Estherville Airport navigation equipment.
Those left to cherish Melvin’s memory include his children, David, Dan (Sandy), and Douglas; five grandchildren, Kirsten (Doug) Prinn, Brian and Gary Breyfogle, Mindy (Jeff) Griffith, and Christopher Breyfogle; four great-grandchildren; Jared, Jace, and Evan Griffith and Jack Prinn.
Preceding Melvin in death are parents; his wife; his brother, Donald; and his son, Dale (2014).
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that memorials be directed to The First Christian Church Memorial Fund, 205 North 7th Street, Estherville, Iowa 51334.
Copyright © 2016, Henry-Olson Funeral Home, Estherville, Iowa
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