Sadly, America has lost another member of The Greatest Generation. After a long, fruitful life filled with family and friends, Melvin Lee Rippetoe passed away on Thanksgiving morning, November 26th, at the age of 96. Melvin was born on October 16th, 1924, in Tulsa to Rose Lee and David Orval Rippetoe. When Melvin was just eight years of age and the oldest of five siblings his father passed away from complications of strep throat. The youngest sibling was just two weeks old, and even though this was the height of the Great Depression, his mother managed to keep the family together and eventually remarried and added another sibling to the mix, for a total of six.

Melvin grew up in Tulsa and graduated from Central High School in 1942. Shortly after graduation, He married his young sweetheart, Helen Hembree, and just ten months later they welcomed Carol, the first of their three daughters. Less than three months after Carol was born, Melvin was inducted into the United States Navy. He was featured in the July 17, 2017, Tulsa World as part of their series "Serving Our Country". His first assignment in the Navy was as a hospital corpsman at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. He was assigned to the psychiatric ward, where he helped the physicians evaluate and care for the servicemen returning from war. The term PTSD was not in use then, but that is exactly what he was dealing with. He said he never served in combat, but he certainly saw the results of it, and it was not pretty.

After serving a year at Oak Knoll, Melvin was sent overseas aboard the USS Dobbin, a destroyer tender with a large sick bay where he worked. The journey to the Philippines was the only time in the war that he was in danger, because the ship was in a convoy that had to zigzag in order to avoid Japanese submarines. Just as the ship was preparing to head to Japan, the announcement came that the war had ended, and they were to head back home. When he arrived home, Melvin met his second daughter, Melody, for the first time.

Once back in Tulsa as a civilian, Melvin returned to work at Service Pipeline Company, and also went to night school on the G.I. Bill. It took eight years, three nights a week, but Melvin completed his degree in accounting from T.U. By then Melvin and Helen's third daughter, Joy, had arrived. Melvin continued to work at Service Pipeline for 22 years, then worked for two years at Tuloma Gas. He left Tuloma to purchase Acme Plumbing, which he sold after a few years when he opened Rippetoe Realty. He also went to the Missouri School of Auctioneering, and used that knowledge in his real estate business and also to liquidate businesses.

Finally Melvin and Helen found their true passion in the world of antiques, and they moved to Chouteau where they opened Rippetoe Antiques. They had the most fun, however, when they started traveling the country doing antique shows. They filled their pickup camper with their merchandise, mostly glassware and books, and hooked up their travel trailer and set off for Florida, Texas, Missouri, or anywhere they knew they would have a good time and a good show. They made so many friends in the antique business and thoroughly enjoyed themselves until they retired and moved back to Tulsa in 1992. Not one to remain idle, Melvin started volunteering at Hillcrest Hospital, first in Surgery Waiting, then in Cardiology ICU. He volunteered for about 25 years, and was doing so when he had to stop due to Covid. He also worked at the Tulsa State Fair for many years taking tickets. Both of those activities allowed Melvin to serve his community and make new friends. For many years, every weekday morning would find Melvin and Helen at McDonald's having coffee with friends, then heading to the fitness center for their daily workout and more socializing for Melvin. Melvin was still going to the fitness center regularly until Covid struck and closed the center.

Anyone who has lived 96 years has experienced incredible joy along with great sadness. Family was simply the most important thing in life to Melvin, so his joys were tied to his family, but especially to his true love and partner in life, Helen. At the time of Helen's death in August of this year, they had been married for 78 years. An article in the February 14, 2017, edition of the Tulsa World chronicled their love story and impending 75th wedding anniversary. Helen's death, of course, brought him great sadness, and it is no coincidence that his health began to fail after her death. Unfortunately Melvin and Helen suffered the greatest tragedy of all, which was losing two of their children. Melody passed in 2012, and Carol in 2018. Also predeceasing him were his youngest sister, Patsy, and his brothers, Burt and Lawrence, grandson Eric Dingman, and great-granddaughter Jennifer Crawford. He is survived by his youngest daughter, Joy (Mike) Longmire, seven grandchildren, fourteen great-grandchildren, and ten great-great-grandchildren. He is also survived by two sisters, Doris Adair and Gerry White. The family extends their heartfelt gratitude to his two oldest granddaughters, Shirley Hilles and Susan Keller, for lovingly caring for their granddaddy during his final days. Their kindness and compassion will never be forgotten. Melvin and Helen always contributed to the Salvation Army this time of year, so a donation in their name would be a lovely gesture. A graveside service with military honors will be held at 2:00 P.M. on December 1st, and a celebration of life will be held at a later date when it is safe to gather. Moore's Southlawn 918-663-2233. Share memories at www.moorefuneral.com .