Melvin Cecil Larsen, 98, of Glasgow, Montana and Owensboro, Kentucky, departed this world with his daughter by his side at 11:37 a.m., Wednesday, August 11, 2021, at Wellington Parc Senior Living Center in Owensboro, Kentucky.
He was born November 25, 1922, in Glasgow, Montana to the late Nels and Cecilia (Damman) Larsen.
From a young age, Melvin was taught the value of a job well-done, helping care for his parent’s gardens, delivering telegrams for pennies and doing other odd jobs.
When his father passed away, Melvin was only seventeen, but helped his mother raise his then three-year-old twin sisters.
He worked at the city parks and Highland Cemetery in Glasgow, later joining the US Army and serving in WWII in the Pacific campaign, was a paratrooper who was parachuted into Okinawa during the Battle of Okinawa, remaining for the Occupation of Japan until 1946.
Upon his return to Glasgow, Montana, he continued working for the city, and in 1952 met and married Lois Shattuck.
Together they raised three children and a foster daughter. Melvin enjoyed caring for the cemetery and parks for over 40 years, had a monument sales business, installed sprinkler systems, handled the upkeep on his and Lois’ rental properties and worked on his flower and vegetable gardens, sharing the fruits of his labor with friends and neighbors.
He was always kind to everyone he met, put others before himself, cared for his mother in her later years, and did these things without looking for recognition. You could say he was from the old school, from a simpler time, and one of the good guys.
Along with his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Lois Shattuck Larsen; two sons, Neil and Donald Larsen; and three brothers: Laurence, Walter, and Richard Larsen.
Melvin is survived by his daughter, Ruth Yeager (Kim); grandchildren, Bethanie Shields (John), Daniel Yeager (Ashley) and Matthew Yeager (Jessica); great-grandchildren: Grace, Shelby, Avery, Audrey, Emmy, Nora, Ivy and Violet; a foster daughter, Betty Brandt (Varian) and her children; two sisters-in-law, numerous nieces and nephews and his faithful little dog, Reese.