Melvin James Orel, age 90, from Winner, South Dakota, passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024.
Services will be held on his 91st birthday, Friday, May 31, 2024,at 10:30 a.m. at Mason Funeral Home in Winner.
Melvin James Orel was born on May 31, 1933, to Joseph Orel and Anna (Dvorak) Orel at the family farm near Hamill, SD. Melvin loved farm life from an early age proven by the pictures of him feeding the chickens, playing with cats, and surrounded by puppies. Melvin was joined by twin brothers, Darrel and Donald, a few years later, and then the fun began.
Melvin attended country school a short distance from his home. He told stories of having to carry coal to keep the stove going for warmth, which was essential as many students walked or road horses to school. It was here that Melvin met one of his life-long friends, Leo Beranek. Melvin only completed the eighth grade as he was needed on the farm, but he never stopped learning. He liked to read about world happenings, politics, and local news. And if you asked him anything about making purchases – whether it was a car, a house, or what not – his famous phrase was, “Well, I’ll have to pencil that out.” He liked to “tinker” a lot too: fixing old televisions would pass the cold winter evenings, as well as building a motorcycle in the basement (and then wondering how on Earth it was going to get upstairs), and later in life he loved creating things in his garage with various shapes and sizes of wood.
As he, his brothers, and friends became older, shenanigans were always involved. He told stories about his friends and the tricks they would play on each other and on their girlfriends. On one such occasion, Melvin met his future wife, Agnes Klima.
In 1954, Melvin joined the United States Army. After basic training, he loaded up on a ship that carried him and soon-to-be many Army friends to Japan. He was stationed there for two years, where he met his life-long best friend, LeRoy Oleson. One memory that Melvin shared was when they returned to the US, he and two of his friends scrounged every pocket they had to scrape up enough change to try something they had never heard of before: a hot fudge sundae. How could you put hot fudge on ice cream and not have a melted mess? They eventually found enough money to buy one sundae (5 cents!) and three spoons, and it was the most delicious thing they had ever tasted!!
Melvin and his brother, Darrell, lived and loved the farm life. Hours and hours were spent tending cattle, hauling them to and from Sioux City in the Orel semi, planting corn and winter wheat, harvesting the crops, and one of Melvin’s most favorite farm scents – mowing the alfalfa, and more. Some of the best memories were made taking lunches out to the field so they could continue on with the farming. On days they were not in the field, coffee breaks at Grandpa and Grandmas were a ritual that nobody wanted to miss.
Melvin loved to tell stories of flying his airplane with his brother, Donald, by his side. Together they would chase those pesky coyotes out of their hiding places and shoot them from the air. He also told of one of the airplanes landing in a dam near Hamill, although he never said how that came about.
Although summers were a busy time around the farm, Melvin also found time for vacationing. Some of the most memorable were: a trip to Pennsylvania, annual trips to Colorado to visit his aunt, Tina, and bring back a motorhome full of fresh Colorado peaches, a trip to the Royal Gorge Bridge where he walked across the bridge without a fear in the world, several trips to the Black Hills, and the annual Labor Day trip to Fremont, NE to spend time with his friends Leo and Bob. On a vacation in Mexico, he even went parasailing over the Pacific Ocean.
Fall was another important time for Melvin. Not only did it mean harvest time, but it also meant he would be able to spend time with the Minnesota pheasant hunters who had become a part of the Orel family.
Melvin and Agnes made their home on the farm where they raised their three daughters, Elaine, Eileen, and Lori. In 1993, they moved to Winner. Agnes passed away in June of 2020, and Melvin continued to live at their home until March of 2022 when he moved to Golden Prairie Manor. Here, he made many new friends and was reacquainted with special friends from his past. Lori will especially miss his morning, noon, and evening hugs that were a part of their routine since moving into the Manor.
Melvin was preceded in death by his parents, Joe & Anna, his in-laws, Joe & Anna Klima, his brothers, Darrell & Donald, his brother-in-law, Frankie, his wife, Agnes, and several aunts, uncles, and cousins, as well as his best friend, LeRoy.
Melvin is survived by his three daughters, Elaine Boes (Brad) of Rapid City, South Dakota, Eileen Larson (Russ Oesterling) of Pima, Arizona, and Lori McCarty (Keith) of Colome, South Dakota; his grandchildren, Teresa Jones (Mike), Kim Selle (Dustan), Brock Songer (Tinley), Angie Frichten (Aaron), Casey Larson (Brooke), Mallori Winter (Scott), Cole McCarty, Maggie McCarty (Mason Schuyler), 15 great grandchildren, and 5 great, great grandchildren, as well as a host of nieces, nephews, and friends.
We love you forever, Dad. We’ll miss you until we meet again!
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