Don C. MELLGREN

MELLGREN, MCGRATH, WILLIAMS, SANDERS

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 10/1/2006 at 18:54:32

Don C. Mellgren 78, of Stevensville [MT], passed away Jan. 22, 2004, from cancer. He was born to Oscar and Inda Mellgren in Eagle Grove, Iowa, on Aug. 15, 1925. He attended schools in Eagle Grove and graduated from high school where he excelled in basketball and other sports. In 1943 he joined the Air Corps and became a cadet at the University of Montana. In 1946 he returned from the war and attended Iowa State College Forestry School. He later transferred to the University of Montana in 1948 and continued his forestry degree in land management, graduating in 1951. He married Frances McGrath, a childhood friend in 1948. They lived in many places besides Missoula. His work with the Bureau of Land Management took him to Miles City, Billings, Washington, DC., and Denver. He transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Department the last six years before retiring in 1981. Don had many hobbies besides golf and tennis. He was a wood carver of birds, built furniture, restored and built violins, did oil painting and especially loved fishing. Don was a member of the Stevensville Methodist Church. He was a member of the choir for many years and initiated the building of the fellowship hall in 1992. He loved singing and helped start the Missoula Men's Barbershop Chorus. He was a tenor in the Pinetones quartet and they sang all over the Northwest and won many competitions. As district manager in Missoula of the BLM he also initiated the restoration of the mining town of Garnet. Carpenters for Christ was another one of his creations.

He is survived by his wife, Frances "Ginny"; two children, Melanie of Missoula and her son, Matthew, and wife, Lori, and their daughter, Katie Jo, of Boulder, and Timothy and wife, Sheila, their children, Abby, and Mahle and husband, Chase Williams; sisters Joan Sanders of Redondo Beach, Calif., and Mary and husband Roger of Mesa, Ariz.; brother, Robert of Emigrant; five nephews and two nieces. Don's energy and enthusiasm for life will be missed by us all. Family services have been held and a memorial service will take place at a later date. Arrangements are under the care of the Daly-Leach Chapel in Hamilton. The family suggests memorials to Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital Center for Hospice and Palliative Care, Carpenters for Christ or the Stevensville Methodist Church.

Ravalli Republic [Montana]
January 23 2004