Service: Saturday, May 11, 2024, with a brief visitation to be held at 10 AM, followed by a service to begin at 11 AM.
Melvon George Schlotterback passed away at Dougherty Hospice House in the comfort and care of loving family & friends on May 3rd, 2024.
Melvon George Schlotterback was born to George and Gertrude Schlotterbeck on June 27, 1929, the eldest brother among four siblings, which included his sisters Edith, Mary, and his infant brother who passed shortly after birth.
Melvon graduated from Harrisburg Highschool in 1936 and a few short years later he would meet his future wife and mother of his children, Beverly Jorgensen. After marrying in 1950, they would see the birth of their first child Julie, followed by six other children; Gary, Cheryl, Dortha, Sandra, Kevin, and Chuck.
To take care of his family, Melvon traveled all over the country working as a travelling millwright, finding himself contributing to all sorts of construction projects big and small. Among these projects were the swimming pools found at the Dakota Dome at the University of South Dakota as well as multiple shipping docks and depots in the state of Minnesota, where Melvon and Beverly spent a number of years living. Minnesota held a special place for Melvon, where he spent his retirement watching Minnesota Twins and Vikings games, occasionally taking his grandchildren to a Twins game when they would come to Minneapolis to visit.
Later on, Melvon would move back to the family farm in Harrisburg, South Dakota. There, he spent his time working on any number of projects and hobbies, which ranged from woodworking and crafting, to growing flowers, fruits, and vegetables in his many gardens. One of his favorite ways to pass the time was mowing his lawn on his riding mower, where he could be found for hours, sometimes until the sun was about to go down. In the winter time, when he couldn’t be out on his mower, you could find him working in his shop, with the wood stove burning, and his chickens right in the next room to keep him company while he sorted through his old tools, or decided on what project he was going to tackle next. He especially enjoyed long country drives with Beverly, where they would drive to different towns to see how much it had changed or to visit places that had special significance to them. Melvon liked to pass down his skills and knowledge to his grandchildren, often teaching them the importance of measuring twice then cutting once, instilling the values of performing a task correctly the first time, and as he would say sometimes, helping them to “use their noggins,” when faced with a difficult chore or task; he was even a very proud 4-H leader. He was very well loved by his children, his grand-children, numerous great grand-children and he worked very hard his whole life to ensure that he provided them every opportunity to grow and succeed. There is no doubt that he will be greatly missed by all his family and friends.
Melvon is survived by his sisters Mary and Edith, his children Julie (Jack, deceased) Nicholson, Gary (Peggy) Schlotterbeck, Cheryl (Loren) Stanton, Dortha (David) Sattler, Sandy Schlotterback, Chuck Schlotterback, and his numerous grand & great grand-children.
Melvon was preceded in death by his parents George & Gertrude (Huizenga) Schlotterbeck, his infant brother, his loving wife Beverly (Jorgensen), and his son Kevin.
Services for Melvon will be held at Anderson Corcoran Jones funeral chapel in Harrisburg Saturday, May 11, 2024, with a brief visitation to be held at 10 AM, followed by a service to begin at 11 AM.