Curtis Gordon "Curt" Mellen

MELLEN, C urtis G. Curtis Gordon "Curt" Mellen, a lifetime lover of the outdoors, highway designer, family man and perhaps the best person you could ever have with you on a hike, passed away peacefully in his sleep Tuesday (September 11, 2007). He was 84. Born on August 12, 1923, in Pelham, MA, Mellen spent much of his early years in Lexington, MA. He learned his love of the outdoors from his father, Richard Mellen, who was an executive in the Boy Scouts of America, and Mellen went on to be a Boy Scout troop leader. He graduated in 1941 from high school in Stratford. He spent two years studying at the University of Connecticut before joining the 99th Infantry Division. He was awarded a purple heart for an injury he received December 26, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge. He returned to UConn, where he received a civil engineering degree in 1948. In December 21, 1946, he married Jane Staub, his wife of 60 years. They raised three children, David, Roger and Carolyn, in Manchester. Mellen spent 27 years as an engineer for the state of Connecticut's highway department before retiring in 1975. The couple moved to Concord, MA, then later to Hopkinton, NH and then Moultonboro, NH. In 1999, the couple joined the Taylor Retirement Community family, living first in Moultonboro and then in Laconia. Beginning in 1986, Mellen worked part time for eight years for the Lakes Region Planning Commission. He was rarely at rest during retirement. He canoed, snow skied and could chop a winter's worth of firewood by himself. He was a member of the "Over the Hill Hikers" since 1985. He climbed all 48 4,000-foot mountains in New Hampshire -- three times over. He is preceded in death by his parents, Gertrude and Richard Mellen. He is survived by his wife, Jane; two brothers, Victor and wife Anne of Victor, NY, and Phillip and wife Susan of Memphis, TN; sister Evelyn and husband John Archer of Burtonsville, MD; his two sons, David and his wife Mary Ellen of Colchester, and Roger and his wife Carol of Arlington, VA; daughter Carolyn Rick and husband Marc Rick of Somers; grandchildren Lisa Roy of Derry, NH, Eric Barton and wife Jill of Kansas City, MO, Jason of Colchester, Chris of New York, NY, Juliann of Colchester; and great-grandchildren, Ashley Roy and Travis Roy. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sept. 22, at Taylor Community's Woodside building, 227 Ledges Drive, Laconia, NH. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Star Island Annual Fund, 10 Vaughan Mall, Suite 8, Portsmouth, N.H. 03801, or by contacting (603) 430-6272.