Melvin Vincent Johnson, beloved husband, father and great-great grandfather, went to be with the Lord on Friday, February 18, 2011 at the age of 91.<\/p>\n
Mel was born August 28, 1919, to Oliver and Bertha Johnson in Owanka, S.D. His parents homesteaded in the Owanka area in 1902, and Mel graduated from Owanka High School at the age of 16. After high school, Mel and a cousin traveled through Montana on the way to the coast in search of work. The train they were on stopped in Butte where Mel was offered and took a job with the Railroad working on the Amazon Tunnel at Wickes. Later he worked as a ranch hand in the Boulder Valley for the Knowles ranch and later as foreman of the Murphy ranch. At the outbreak of WWII he enlisted in the Army serving with the 803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion and was wounded in action. Among other distinguishing medals, Mel was awarded the Purple Heart. After his discharge from the Army, he married Edna May Tintinger and attended Montana State College (MSU) where he earned his degree in Civil Engineering, specializing in hydraulics.<\/p>\n
After graduating in 1951 Melvin took a job with the United States Geological Survey in Helena. Mel and Edna purchased a small farm east of Helena where they raised 13 children and resided until October of 2006. Melvin retired from the USGS in 1977 and continued his hydrological career with self employment, Morrison-Maierle and the last 20 years for the Sultanate of Oman,Ministry of Water Resources. He finally retired from hydraulic work in 1990. In 1993 he was awarded the Arid Lands Hydraulic Engineering Award, from the American Society of Civil Engineers in recognition of his outstanding scientific contributions in water resources. Mel moved to Rocky Mountain Care Center in Helena after breaking his hip in 2005.<\/p>\n
Melvin took pleasure in being with his family and minding the farm. It was often said that Mel was outstanding in his field; they weren\u2019t always referring to his hydraulic career, as he could always be found standing in his hayfield or garden, often wielding a shovel to redirect the irrigation water. Being involved in 4H, cows, pigs, sheep, chickens and turkeys were also a part of the farm and he took great pride in raising them. Mel enjoyed all sports including fishing and hunting; the kids especially enjoyed their time with him playing baseball, horse shoes, ping-pong, bowling and a good game of cards.<\/p>\n
Mel was preceded in death by his parents: brothers: Glen, Chet, Oliver and Wes; sisters: Alice, Ida, Olive and Lillian; daughter and sons-in-law: Renee Johnson, Richard Stein, Edward Molyneaux; and grandson, Matthew Lindner.<\/p>\n
Mel is survived by his wife, Edna May, children: Donald, Alice (Dick) Lewis, Bertha Stein, Margaret (Vern) Miller, Carol Molyneaux, Thomas, Cynthia (Jimmy) Wollenberg, David (Brenda), Steven, Edward (Millie), Lora, Dora (Mike) Lindner and Melva (Keith) Fowler. He is also survived by 35 grandkids, 21 great grandkids, 2 great-great grandkids, sister-in-law: Lori Johnson of Helena, and brother-in-law: Glen Jones of South Dakota, as well as, many nieces and nephews and a Partridge in a pear tree.<\/p>\n
Visitation will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, February 24, at Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be 10:00 a.m. Friday, February 25, at Our Redeemer\u2019s Lutheran Church, 1400 Stuart St.; burial will follow at Castner Falls Cemetery outside of Cascade. In lieu of flowers memorials may be given to a charity of your choice. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.aswfuneralhome.com.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/319364_profile_pic.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","family_email":"","family_first_name":"","family_last_name":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}