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obituary from MuscatineJournal.com
Richard "Dick" Melson
Services: 10:30 a.m. Thursday, May 12, Wesley United Methodist Church. Visitation: 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, May 11, Geo. M. Wittich-Lewis Home for Funeral and Cremation Services, 2907 Mulberry Ave. MUSCATINE, Iowa - Richard Everett "Dick" Melson, 86, Muscatine, died Sunday, May 8, 2005, at Lutheran Homes. The Rev. Hal Green will officiate the services. Burial will be at Greenwood Cemetery with military rites conducted by the combined units of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1565 and American Legion Post 27. After the burial, a time of food and fellowship will be held at the church. Memorials may be made to the Muscatine Community Foundation for Ag Learning Center, 208 W. Second St., Muscatine, IA 52761. Online condolences may be left for the Melson family at www.lewisfuneralhomes.com. Mr. Melson was born Nov. 23, 1918, on Highland Farm near Rolfe, the son of Randall and Fern Beers Melson. He married Eva Mae Frieden March 19, 1944, in Elgin. She died of cancer Sept. 1, 1989. He married Mary Ellen Kehoe Lambert Feb. 22, 1992. He graduated from Rolfe High School and received his bachelor of science degree in agricultural engineering from Iowa State University in 1941. After attending the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, he served as Engineering Officer on the destroyer U.S.S. Ralph Talbot in the Pacific for three years. He earned 10 Bronze Campaign Service Stars plus two Philippine Bronze Stars and a commendation. After the war, he was production manager at VyLactos Laboratories, Des Moines, before moving to Muscatine in 1957 to build CK Processing Co. He owned and operated CK Processing, River Terminal Corp. and DLT Inc. until his retirement in 1994. He was a member of Rotary, a 32nd Degree Mason as a member of the Iowa Lodge No. 2 AF & AM, a Shriner, a member of Iowa State University National Cyclone Club, and served on the CIRAS Board of Iowa State University and as a Boy Scout troop leader both in Pocahontos and for Troop 127 in Muscatine. He was a multi-engine, instrument rated pilot and loved flying his twin engine Beech Baron. Survivors include his wife, Mary Ellen; a son, James Richard Melson and wife Arlene of Muscatine; a daughter, Jane Melson Mathison and husband John of Ames; two sisters, Mary Hanna of Des Moines and Barbara Olerich of Rolfe; and five grandchildren, Christopher Melson, Stephanie Melson, Katherine Melson, Randall Mathison, and Margaret Mathison. He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Eva Mae; a brother, Robert Melson; and a sister, Betty White.
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