Lee, Melvin Selmer 1932-2009
LEE, WARHUUS, SWENSON, DOHSE, DANIEL, ZIMMERMANN, RAMSTAD BOGUCKI, STEINE, MORE, MORETTI, DIETERMAN
Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 10/24/2012 at 16:48:42
Mel Lee, age 77, of Decorah, Iowa, died on Tuesday, December 15, 2009, at the Aase Haugen Nursing Home in Decorah, Iowa.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, December 19, 2009, at the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church, rural Decorah, Iowa, with Rev. Mark Kvale presiding.
Friends may call from 3:00-7:00 p.m. on Friday at the Schluter – Balik Funeral Home and also after 10:00 a.m. at the church on Saturday morning. There will be a VFW Memorial Service at 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening.
Melvin Selmer Lee was born May 5, 1932, in Glenwood Township, rural Decorah, to Solveig Warhuus Lee, who had emigrated from Amot, Modum, Norway in 1923, and Martin Olaus Lee of rural Decorah. He was baptized June 19, 1932, by Rev. Alfred Bredesen with Carl and Ingeborg Hagen, Sherman Oyen, and Clarice Giving as sponsors. After his mother died and his father’s sight failed, he lived for a time with his aunt and uncle Ida and John Lee. He attended rural schools and was confirmed by Rev. Oscar O. Engebretson at Washington Prairie Lutheran Church where he remained a member all his life. Later he lived with his father in Decorah, graduating from Decorah High School in the class of 1951. He enlisted in the United States Air Force in the fall of 1951, and was stationed first at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX, later receiving military police training at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, FL. He shipped to Japan on the USS Gordon and on to Kangnung, South Korea, where he was stationed for a year with US forces fighting North Korea. He was discharged at Fort Perrin, Sherman, TX, in October of 1953. He worked driving truck first for Bolson’s Feed and later as a long-distance semi driver for Kenny Groth. He hauled meat to the west coast, often returning with fruits and vegetables. In 1962 he began working as a deputy for then Sheriff Eugene Simonson. In 1976 when Simonson announced his retirement, Melvin was elected Sheriff of Winneshiek County. He continued to serve, being returned to office in 1980, 1984, and 1988, retiring in December of 1992 after 30 years of service to the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Department. On June 15, 1968, Mel and Karen Anne Swenson of Decorah were married at Hauge Lutheran Church. They became the parents of three girls: Marit Solveig, Anne-Kristi, and Kari Ann. A life member of Helof Holm Post 1977 Veterans of Foreign Wars, he served as adjutant general for 30 years. He was also a VFW Cootie. The Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors honored him in 2008 for 40 years of service as a member of the Winneshiek County Commission of Veterans Affairs. Mel served on the board of trustees of Washington Prairie Lutheran Church and was a member of the Aase Haugen Home Board of Trustees. He was a long time member of both the Iowa State and National Sheriff’s Associations, sponsored campers from Winneshiek County to the State Sheriff’s Association Camp in Fort Dodge. He also escorted the Winneshiek Saddle Club riders on their Good Friday Pony Express ride for Camp Sunnyside for 20 years. Mel enjoyed joking and making people laugh, socializing with friends, driving, dancing, fishing, farming and John Deere tractors, playing cards, twice traveling to visit relatives in Norway, and especially spending time with family.
Mel is survived by his wife of 41 years, Karen, their daughters and sons-in-law and four grandchildren, Marit and Dan Dohse, Jens Daniel, Signe Irene, and Haaken Lee of Chanhassen, MN; Anne-Kristi Lee, DVM, of St. Stephen, MN; Kari and Zachary Zimmermann and Mason Lee of Madison, WI. Four siblings survive: Syver Ramstad and Harold (Verna) Lee, Decorah; Ellen (Chet) Bogucki, Remer, MN; Solveig Steine, Winona, MN; sister-in-law, Ellen Louise Swenson, Sebastopol, CA; and brother-in-law Kavin (Barb) Swenson, Ventura, IA. He is also survived by nephews, Larry Ramstad, John (Jackie) Ramstad, Colin Bogucki, David (Judy) Steine, and Bradley Steine; nieces, Carol (Ken) More, Debbie (Vinny) Moretti, and Danielle (Scott) Dieterman; many great nieces and nephews; and numerous cousins, both in the states and in Norway.
Mel was preceded in death by his mother, Solveig in 1943 and his father, Martin in 1973; his father-in-law, Kyrre Swenson in 1998; mother-in-law, Amanda Swenson 2006; brother-in-law, Dick Steine in 1991; and sister-in-law, Nina Ramstad in 2001.
A special thank you to the staff at the Winneshiek County Medical Center and at the Aase Haugen Nursing Home for the excellent care that Mel received
Source: Schluter - Balik Funeral Home database
Washington Prairie Lutheran cemetery
Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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