| Notes |
- From "The Melia Family" by Kay Melia 2001
"The fourth child of Newt and Grace was Oscar, born June 5, 1904 on the family farm, of course. Oscar's early schooling was at Fonda. He graduated from Bucklin High with the class of 1922 and was an outstanding athlete, especially in track and field. He was also on one or the earliest football teams fielded by Bucklin.
After graduation, he decied that he was not suited to be a farmer, and was invited by his Uncle O.B. to go to wrok in O.B.'s new jewerly store in Boulder, Colorado. After a year or so there, Oscar went to Bradley University to learn the watchmaking trade. After the schooling, he moved to Gillette, Wyoming to open his own jewelry store. It was there that he met a local girl and later married his wife Nelle.(Ellen Vasey)
He would later become interested in pharmaceutical work, and was able to go to Denver in 1937 to take his training and apprenticeship in pharmacy. He then received his Pharmacy Degree from the state board, passing with an 84 average. He went back to Gillette and then added a drug store to his jewelry store there.
The store in Gillette did quite well, but Oscar was allergic to dust, among other things, and he heard that there was a drug store for sale in Kalispell, Montana, near Glacier National Park. He and Nelle moved there, thoroghly loving that part of the country. Oscar had a history of heart trouble, and had his first heart attack at the age of 44 in 1948. As his health deteriorated, they sold the store in 1951. Oscar died in July, 1961 at the age of 57, and is buried in Kalispell.
Nelle remarried several years later to an Art Frazier from Vancover, Canada, (they were married for 20 years or so also) and Art and Nelle made several trips to spend their winters in Southern California where they visited often with nephew Crandall Melia and his wife, Charlotte, Shannon, and Sean. Crandall had spent several summers with his Aunt Nelle and Uncle Oscar in Kalispell. Nell died in the late 1990s in Vancouver, Canada.
Crandall Melia(nephew) adds--"I probably knew Uncle Oscar and Aunt Nell better than any of the rest of my family, as I had the opportunity to spend several summers living with them in Kalispell. It was there that I became interested in pharmacy, a profession that I later claimed. Uncle Oscar had this fabulous pharmacy with, among other things a very large soda fountain and there must have been at least 4 or 5 booths also for lunches. When I got up there, I was able to have all of the grilled cheeses and chocolate milk shakes and hot fudge sundies that I could eat. I decided then and there that this must be something that I would like to do all of my life. They didn't work me very hard: they didn't have any children, and probably spoiled me rotten, a situation that I decided that I could really get accustomed to. Aunt Nell had the greatest sense of humor and kept everyone laughing all the time.
They had a Great Pyrinese dog called "Mose", who weighed 135 lbs, with fur white as a polar bear and just slightly smaller. Mostly he just "mosed" around the house and slept, unless he was outside on his very large chain fastened to a very large clothes line pole.
Uncle Oscar worked very hard in the pharmacy. They made all of their ice cream and he would return to the pharmacy after going home for a late dinner and make 5 gallon cans of the stuff in huge freezers several nights a week."
Obituary in newspaper:
"Oscar V. Melia was born June 5, 1904 at Bucklin, Kansas. After completing his schooling at Bucklin, he attended Bradley University at Peoria, Ill, and upon completion of school at Bradley, he moved to Douglas Wyo., where he made his home for 2 years. He then moved to Gillette, Wyo;, where he entered partnership as a co-owner of the Edelman Drug of Gillette. He made his home in Gillette for 10 years, and on May 1, 1939, purchased the Kalispell Rexall Drug from John Broadwater. Mr Melia operated the Kalispell Drug until April 1955, when he sold his interes to Don Bolog. Due to poor health, Mr Melia has been retired since.
Mr. Melia was a member of the Kalispell Eagles, and Elks, and also St. Matthew's Catholic Church.
On May 29, 1933, he married Ellen A Vasey and is survived by his wife, Ellen at the family home at 210 Helena Flats Road. He is also survived by three brothers, Gordon and Elmer Melia, both of Bucklin, Kansas and Eugene of Johnstown, Colorado; three sisters, Mrs. Robert Lathen, and Mrs. Glenn Kirkpatrick, both of Bucklin, Kansas, and Miss Mabel Melia of Denver, Colorado."
"Requem High Mass for Oscar V. Melia was celebrated Friday morning at 10 in the St. Mathew's Catholic Church with the Rt. Rev. Michael J. Halligan as celebrant. Rosary for Mer. Melia was recited Thursday at 8 pm in the Waggener and Campbelll Chapel. Interment followed the mas Friday morning in the Conrad Memorial Cemetery."
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1904 - 1961 (57 years)
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