WALTER B. MELVIN

BANGOR – Walter “Slim” Basil Melvin Sr., 90, died Monday, Dec. 26, 2005. He was born March 1, 1915, in Rome, to Floyd W. and Mildred (Nickerson) Melvin. He attended Lawrence High School in Fairfield and graduated from Mattawamkeag High School and studied at Thomas Business College in Waterville. Walter played violin in the Waterville Sentinel Newsboy Orchestra. He spent much of his childhood at the family farm of Flora (Foster) Nickerson on Nickerson Lane in Rome. After finishing his schooling, he began a career in the construction industry. He worked as a carpenter and later as a contractor. In the 1930’s, he developed a passion for skiing at the local slopes near Waterville and went on to ski at Tuckerman at Mount Washington, N.H., sometimes sleeping in the trunk of his 1936 Ford Coupe in the parking lot at Pinkham. In 1940, he married Winifred A. Shaw of Augusta. They had two sons, Walter B. Melvin Jr. in 1942 and Frederick S. Melvin in 1947. Slim enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942 and joined the Navy construction battalion, known as the Sea Bees, as chief petty officer. During World War II he served in England and France at the Invasion of Normandy, where his division went ashore at the same time as General Patten and his Tank Corps. After the Normandy situation had stabilized he was sent to Port Hueneme, Calif. and onward to the island of Okinawa, where the Sea Bees constructed airfields and supply facilities. He was a member of the Naval Reserve for many years. Returning home after the war, he and Wini settled in Bangor, where their second son, Fred was born in 1947. Slim return to his interest in skiing and became a member of the Penobscot Valley Ski Club, where he took first place in one of the early “Golden Skis” races held at a mountain outside of Bangor. He and the other members of the club built a rope tow and ski area at Kings Mountain near Bangor. In the late 1940’s and the early 1950’s, they moved the tow facilities to a new location at Bald Mountain in Dedham. The area grew in size and in the 1960’s, it was sold to a corporation that took over its operation. In the early 1950’s, Slim and his friend, Horace Chapman, went to Kingfield in the western part of the state of Maine to see a fellow named Amos Winter who was promoting a large mountain north of Kingfield as a potential ski area. Slim became one of the founding members of the Sugarloaf Mountain Ski Club and maintained his membership throughout his life. He spent many winter weekends as a race official at club sponsored competitions, including the 1971 World Cup races, NCAA Championships and dozens of other races. In 1986, the club named the Race Building, then located on the Lower Narrow Gage trail, “Melvin House” in his honor. He was president of the Maine Ski Council in the 1950’s and was involved in ski events and activities throughout his life. He was a member of the National Ski Patrol. After retiring in 1980, he spent summers at his “cottage” in Rome, on a lakeside corner of the old family farm and winters divided between his Bangor home and Sugarloaf where he continued to work on races. He was commodore of the Rome Yacht Club for two years and a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Winifred S. Melvin of Bangor; two sons, Walter B. Melvin Jr. of New York City and Frederick S. Melvin of Pittsfield; four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren; seven younger brothers and sisters, Richard Melvin of Hermon, Ernest Melvin of Bangor Florence M. Ross of Bangor, Ruby M. Driscoll of Gorham, Carolyn M. Sadlowski of Deep River, Conn., Floyd Melvin of Bangor, Robert Melvin of Belfast. He was predeceased in 1997 by his youngest sister, Virginia M. Rice. A Service of Remembrance will be held 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 31 at Brookings-Smith, 133 Center St., Bangor. The family invites relatives and friends to share conversation and refreshments at the Brookings-Smith Family Center, 163 Center St., Bangor, following the service. Interment will be in the spring at Forest Grove Cemetery, Augusta. Gifts in his memory may be made to Grace United Methodist Church, 193 Union St., Bangor, ME 04401.