Arlo's brother, Melvin, lived in the state of Washington, he died there, It was requested that a family member come to Washington to identify him and prepare to bring him to Colorado to bury him. Arlo and I, (Gatha), and Earl and his wife, Augusta. (is first wife). went to Washington.
Kent was a small child and I was still nursing him. Grandma Dunn tended Don and Kent, so I could go with them to identify and prepare Melvin to bring him home.
Melvin and his dad weren't very good friends. Melvin left home when he was young and the family didn't know where he was for many years. He had never married and Arlo hadn't seen him for a long time. He joined the army and was finally in touch with his family. He came to LaJara when Grandpa Vance, Arlo's dad, died. Arlo didn't know him when he saw him.
On with the story. Arlo, Earl, Gus and I drove to Washington. It was January and it was a very cold and snowy time. Idaho was snowed in, so they decided to go through Arizona and Nevada. Flagstaff was snowed in. There were drifts on the sides of the road, so high that we hardly saw any homes in Flagstaff. We went a hundred miles into Nevada and the pass we had to go through was closed, so we drove the hundred miles Back to Arizona, and drove through California. We did finally reach Washington. Arlo and Earl took care of the business of getting things ready for Melvin to be shipped by train to Alamosa and on to LaJara, where the funeral was and he was buried in the Manassa Cemetery.
2 comments:
Thank you for posting this, Mom. I know very little about Uncle Melvin and this helps me feel I know a little more about him. Do you know if there is a photo of Melvin? If so, it would be nice to add a photo of him to this post.
Do you know the dates of your trip?
You were seven months when we went to Washington. Melvin died on the 7th of February 1949.
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