Melvin 'Mel' Redlin, 87
On Aug. 16, 2005, Melvin "Mel" Redlin passed on "to be with our Lord for all eternity."
Mel was born on July 19, 1918, in South Shore, S.D., to Arthur and Mae Breitzman Redlin. In his early years, he lived on the family farm in South Dakota until joining the Army in 1942. On May 20, 1942, he married his sweetheart, Audrey Lobben, in Ortonville, Minn. They had five children - Sharon, Roger, Linda, Denise and Norma.
After his honorable discharge in 1946, they moved back to South Dakota where Mel had his own farm. In addition to farming he did electrical and mechanical work and was also a crop inspector for an insurance company.
In 1953, the family moved to Helena, where Mel was employed as an electrician. For the next 30 years, he did electrical work and was also a state electrical inspector for the State of Montana. He retired from the state in 1983.
From the time of his retirement until 1986, Mel and Audrey traveled around the country with the Mobile Missionary Assistance Program (MMAP) helping to build churches. In 1986 they moved to Tacoma where Mel was employed as an apartment manager, until their move to Bigfork in 1928, where they lived until moving to Fort Benton in 1998.
Mel had a deep love for the Lord and he very much enjoyed reading and studying his Bible and sharing the gospel with others. He was a member of the Gideons, the Full Gospel Businessmen Association and attended many Christian conferences and crusades.
He loved music of all kinds, especially Christian music, and loved to have his children and grandchildren sing and play for him. He especially liked to travel, go camping, boating, and, most of all, he had a great love for flying. The experiences he had of flying with his friends was something he always talked about, even in the final days of his life.
Mel was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Alfred and Roy; a sister, Eleanor Hafner; and one niece.
He is survived by Audrey, his loving wife of 63 years; his five children, Sharon and Gordon Stockstad of Helena, Roger and Cathy Redlin of Thornton, Colo., Linda and Myron McDonald of Fairfield, Wash., Denise and Frank Shaw of Great Falls, and Norma and Dean Rueb of Buffalo, Wyo.; 12 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; six great-great-grandsons; three nieces and two nephews.
"Mel, you were a wonderful husband of 63 years, and I look forward to spending eternity with you where there will be no more tears, no more pain and we will never be apart."
"Dad we will all greatly miss your harmonica playing, your gentleness, your teasing sense of humor and want to thank you for all the hard work you did to raise all of us and for just being our wonderful Dad."
Memorial and celebration of life services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 23, at Community Bible Church, 1600 Main, in Fort Benton.
The family requests memorials in Mel's name be sent to World Vision P.O. Box 70200, Tacoma, WA 98481-0200; or to CBN Virginia Beach, VA 23463.
Benton Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.