Melvin Paul Haney was born December 28, 1925 in Selma, Iowa to Clyde and Rena (Sturdevant) Haney. He died December 18, 2021 at 8:00pm in Springfield, MO
When Melvin was six years old, his family moved to MO where he attended grade school at Mountain View and Cloverdale schools. In 1943, Melvin graduated from Buffalo High School, in Buffalo, MO. Melvin enjoyed playing trumpet in the high school band and played in the Saturday night Band Concerts which were performed on the Court House lawn during the summer months.
Despite contracting polio at the age of two, he was inducted into the Army during WWII and spent his 19th birthday on a ship headed to Germany. As a Tank Commander in the Ardennes Campaign in Central Europe Melvin received the European African Middle Eastern Ribbon with three Bronze Stars, WWII Victory Medal, a Good Conduct Medal, and two Overseas Bars. While in this Campaign, Melvin related the story of his tank coming upon German tanks and everyone jumping out into the wilderness. With his pocketknife he dug a shallow fox hole where he spent many anxious hours watching and listening to the Germans who were only a short distance away.
After returning home from the war, he worked at Stafford Brothers Garage in Springfield, MO for a time then married Joann Jackson in August of 1952. They moved to Denver, CO where he worked for the DuPont Paint Company until he retired. After his retirement, their love of the Southwest, led them to Arizona where they lived until moving back to MO to be near family.
Melvin was a thoughtful and kind person, especially to the love of his life, Joann. Travel was a large part of their life and they were able to see and experience many places. Joann recalls one trip in particular where Melvin surprised her when he picked her up from work and told her they were going to dinner. Instead, he’d packed their bags and after passing the restaurant, Melvin informed her he had plans to take her to Nebraska to visit his sister.
His sisters all have fond memories of their brother while growing up on the family farm. Although times were extremely hard back then, good times can still be recalled. They remember walking along the river, having water fights with paper sacks full of water, rolling each other down the hill inside of old tire, walking on homemade stilts and could even find laughter while cleaning weeds out of the peanut patch.
He was preceded in death by his parents, a baby sister Beulah, and a sister Fern Bridges. He is survived by Joann, his wife of almost 70 years, two sisters, Dixie Howser of Buffalo, MO, Inez Mae Vaughn of Indianapolis, IN, along with nieces, a nephew and friends.
Graveside services will be at the Springfield Veterans Cemetery on December 28, 2021 at 1pm. Donations may be made to the Springfield Veterans Cemetery, American Legion Post 19 in Buffalo, MO where he was a charter member.