MELVIN MARION PRIEST (1910-1950)- UPDATED

Melvin Marion Priest was son of Charles Reuben Priest and Sena Adeline Boyd Priest. He was born  12 July 1910 (based on the SSDI ).  He died in a plane crash near the  Clinton-Sherman  Airport in Washita Co., Oklahoma.  Apparently living in Vian, Oklahoma at the time of his death, his place of burial is still to be determined.

His siblings were  Maudie V. Priest Marbut, Lawrence William Priest, Allie M. Priest, Clarence C. Priest, Bessie M. Priest Raymond Wesley Priest, Norman E. Priest and Edna E. Priest. 

He married Velma Dora Cochren in Lyons, Rice , Kansas on 18 October 1930.  He was working the broomcorn harvest when they met.  They will live in the Plevna, Reno Co., Kansas area until about 1933, during which time they will have Melvin Daniel Priest, nicknamed variously "Sonny" and "Charles", and a daughter Leona Fay Priest (1933-1933).

In 1934 they are Barry Co., Missouri near his family where Doris  (spelled Dorris on death certificate and grave entry but her mother always spelled it Doris) Arlene Priest was born (1934- 1935) but dies at 8 months from pnuemonia.

Over the next few years his family expanded to include Ruth Claudine (who would change her name later to Carol), Helen, and Larry L. (who would later change his name to Louis L.). On the 1940 census they are still in Barry Co., Mo in the Flat Creek area where his biological family resided.  He was listed as working on a road crew doing construction.

In the early days of the 1940's he is in Wichita running a boarding house with his family. As the war ended so did his marriage to Velma, although an exact date of divorce is unknown.  

Wife Velma and daughter Helen  inspect one of the planes Melvin Sr. flew, ca. 1945

At the time of his death he was working, apparently, for the J. H. Carman construction company putting in a highway in the Elk City, Oklahoma region.

New information suggests he had married a woman in Kansas within a  year or so of the probable date of the divorce from Velma.  This information suggests he fathered two sons and after his death they all relocated to California.

A MYSTERY SOLVED: MELVIN MARION PRIEST

All that was known was a man had died in a crash of a small plane somewhere in Oklahoma. A photo showing a minister by a new grave hidden by a mountain of flowers with "Pawhuska" scribbled on the back. A general time frame but no definite date.  That was the known story of the death of Melvin Marion Priest, son of Charles Reuben and Sena Adaline Boyd Priest of Barry Co., Missouri.  He was the ex-husband of Velma Dora Cochren Priest Terry.  He was also a cousin to her second husband, Roy Dennis Terry.  

Finally, searching through resources, a news clipping was found from the Oklahoman of July 23, 1950.  The accident occurred near Clinton in western Oklahoma.  He was listed as living in Vian located in Sequoya County on the Arkansas border to Oklahoma.  One of the historical tidbits learned was that prior to WW2 social security cards were often engraved on metal cards (thus explaining how it might have survived the fire intense enough to make identification difficult).  Shown in the image is a daughter and his wife, Velma ca 1943.

Still needed - a grave location...so one mystery solved and others remain.

THE WORKING MAN.

This is a photo of Melvin Daniel Priest (1931-1999) working in his shop in Barton County, Missouri ca. 1990.   The photo is thought to have been taken by his brother, Lou Priest and was in the possession of their sister, Carol Priest Fortey.   Melvin can easily symbolize the working man of the 20th century.  He went to work when he was about seven years of age to help support his abandoned mother and his younger siblings.  He continued to work all of his life.  He was a high welder who worked on skyscrapers throughout the middle of the country; they were called high welders because they worked on the highest scaffolds and under sometimes dangerous conditions.  He raced motorcycles across the country earning a room full of trophies.   He designed a unique trailer hitch.  He was calm, competent, and capable. He loved country music.  He is one of a cadre of phenomenal Americans who never achieved fame, wealth or acclaim.  He, like so many of these 'Forgotten Americans', made the country work.