Irving Burton MELHUS

MELHUS, MOSHER, SCHNELL, HUMPHREYS, MOSES

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:06:49

Irving Burton Melhus
27 July 1909 --- 13 June 1973

Funeral services were held Saturday, June 16 for Irving Burton Melhus, 63, at the First Lutheran Church in Clarion with Rev. Johnson officiating. Interment was at the Rose Hill cemetery at Eagle Grove. Pallbearers were Kenneth Arndorfer, Fred Carolus, Eddie Colnes, Vernon Lester, Clifford Sinkens and Wayne Wilson.

Melhus had been living in Mason City. He was found dead in his submerged car in the Boone River about three miles northwest of Eagle Grove last Wednesday night, June 13. Authorities said the car apparently went through a barricade where the Paine bridge has been out for several months, and landed on its nose, then toppled over onto its top in five to six feet of water. A boy on a bicycle went by between 6:30 and 7:00 p. m. and noticed the auto wheels sticking out of the river. His mother notified the Wright County Sheriff's office. A deputy sheriff and a wrecker went to the scene with a boat and waders. It was well after dark before they determined there was someone in the submerged car.

There was difficulty in getting the vehicle out of the river. After the car was removed, the victim was identified as Melhus. The Paine bridge collapsed last September when a gravel truck hauling tree logs to the sanitary landfill hit the bridge. Since then both ends of the bridge have been barricaded and the road has not been used.

Irving Melhus was born July 27, 1909 at Clarion, Iowa and died June 13, 1973, at the age of 63 years. Irving was born to Ole and Isabelle Melhus. He was reared and educated in Clarion. In November 1929 [1931] he married Jennie Mosher. Following the death of Jennie he was later married to Katherine Schnell Humphreys November 17, 1957. Irving farmed around the Vincent, and Galt area most of his life. In 1970 they moved to Mason City where he worked for the State Highway Commission. He was baptized in the Lutheran faith and was confirmed at the Eagle Grove Lutheran church.

Irving was preceded in death by his parents, Ole and Isabelle Melhus; two brothers, Ordean and Joyce; and his first wife, Jennie. He is survived by his wife, Katherine; three stepchildren, Bill Humphreys of Des Moines, Charles Humphreys of Virginia Beach, Va. and Mrs. Donald (Bobbie) Moses of Chicago, Ill., five grandchildren and many friends in the Galt and surrounding area.

***
Former Galt Resident Dies
Funeral services were held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday at the First Lutheran church in Clarion for Irving B. Melhus, 64, of 2007 South Federal, Mason City, Iowa. Melhus, an Inspector for the Iowa Highway Commission, was found dead Wednesday in an overturned car in the Boone River three miles northwest of Eagle Grove. Wright County Sheriff's officers reported the car had apparently gone through a barricade, where a bridge was put. An autopsy was scheduled, but findings were not available Friday.

Melhus was buried at the Rose Hill cemetery in Eagle Grove. The Rev. Oliver Johnson officiated. Born July 27, 1909, he was the son of Ole and Isabele Melhus. He was married to his first wife, Jennie, on November 30, 1929. She died in 1955. He married Katherine Humphrey in Hampton on Nov. 17, 1957. They farmed in Wright County in the Galt area for several years. In 1970 they moved to Mason City, where he worked for the Iowa Highway Commission.

He is survived by his wife of Mason City, a step daughter, Mrs. Donald Moses of Norridge, Illinois, two stepsons, Charles of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and William Humphreys of Des Moines, and five grandchildren. The Eyler Funeral Home of Clarion was in charge of arrangements.

Wright County Monitor -- Clarion, Iowa
Thursday, June 21, 1973