Melvin K. Stark

Melvin Stark, age 83 of Englewood, Colorado passed away March 1st at the Mariner Nursing Home.

Services will be held on Monday, March 7th at St, Mary's Church in Littleton. The viewing will begin at 11:30 a.m. Rosary will be at 12:30 and Mass will be said at 1 p.m. There will be a reception immediately following at St. Mary's Church.

Mel was born on June 28th 1921 in Utica, South Dakota. As a young boy he moved to Breda, Iowa where he acquired the nickname "Cop". His Father Richard was the town "Cop" for a short time. Melvin has two brothers, Willard "Woody" and Cletus "Rat". Seems as though everyone in this small town had a nickname!

Mel met Audrey in 1941and later joined the Army Aircorp in 1942. He became a Staff Sergeant and flew many missions as a Machine Gunner in a B-17 bomber. Most of their missions were over Austria and Germany. His plane was shot down and Mel became a Prisoner of War for 11 months in north Central Germany. After the war and some time in the hospital, Mel moved to Colorado and married Audrey in 1946.

Mel began his career in retail sales, as he and Audrey started their family.

IN 1959, Mel and Audrey purchased a cabin in Indian Hills Colorado and that became their weekend project and labor of love for many, many years. It was their retreat and a place where the entire family spent numerous days enjoying the fresh mountain air. In the later years of their lives they started a new tradition of celebrating Christmas Day at the cabin with their children and grandchildren.

Mel had a number of hobbies, but the one that kept his interest and consumed a great deal of his time after he retired was woodworking. He spent countless hours building small and large projects, doll houses, rocking horses and Model-A cars and trucks. His true love was working on his lathe, making bowls and vases. The one item he was most proud of was the 4 ft log locomotive and coal car trains ( He made 4.) that were made entirely out of multiple types of wood.

He is survived by his 4 children Alan, Cindi, Bruce, Debbie and 8 grandchildren. Preceded in death by his wife Audrey, one grandchild and one great grandchild.