Chadd Lemont Mellinger

On April 1, 2017 Chadd Mellinger passed away at the Front Range Assisted Living in Fairfield, MT. There will be a celebration of his life at Hillcrest Lawn Memorial Chapel at 11 a.m. on July 8, 2017. Chadd said that his lucky number was seven. He was born in Sidney, MT on July 7, 1917. He married Alvina Liebelt (who was 17) in 1937 and over the course of the next 27 years, they had 7 children. He spent almost all of his 99 years in Montana. At 12 years old he offered a man two dollars for a Model T pickup that wasn’t running, the man took the offer and Chadd had his first car. He repaired it and when the Boy Scouts in Sidney had a Jamboree, the parents of the Scouts had Chadd (who wasn’t in the Scouts) hauling their boys back and forth between Sidney and the camping spot out of town since he had a car. He spent his teen years breaking horses to ride and told many stories about the incidents in this period of his life. One story was when a horse ran back into the barn through a door that only had about a foot clearance between the saddle and the top of the door and he was sitting in the saddle. In 1938 Chadd and Alvina moved to the Fairfield Bench and in 1944 they moved onto the farm where they farmed, raised their family and lived until 2015. Chadd and Alvina also managed to travel to Europe and most of the states in the United States during their life together. During his life he was a hunter, fisherman, camper, water skier, golfer, school bus driver for over 30 years and at the age of 50 decided to take up snow skiing. He continued snow skiing into his 80’s and helped almost all of his grandkids learn to ski. He will be greatly missed by all the people who lived around him during his very active life. He had a big smile and a hearty laugh that could be heard all over any building. Chadd is survived by his seven children; George (Donna) Mellinger, Mike (Gloria) Mellinger, Clarence (Julie) Mellinger, Raymond (Wanda) Mellinger, Judy Foote, Gary (Johanna) Mellinger, and Connie (Victor) Krusi. Additionally he is survived by two brothers, one sister, many Grandchildren, Great Grandchildren, and Great- Great Grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife of 74 years, Alvina, in 2011 and a Grandson, Mark. Memorials are suggested in Chadd’s name to Power Senior Center, Power, MT59468.