Paul Mason Melvin

Paul Mason Melvin

Paul Mason Melvin, 86, died peacefully in his home from complications related to a 13-year battle with Parkinson's disease. He was surrounded by love, care, and gratitude from his children, son-in-law, and caregivers.

Paul was born on May 4, 1937, in New Deal, MT, to John Mason Melvin and Olive Flesjer Melvin. New Deal, in Valley County, was a short-lived boom town created by constructing the nearby Fort Peck Dam in the 1930s. During WWII, Paul's father enlisted in the U.S. Army and was sent to South Korea. Upon his return, the family moved back to Montana, first to Great Falls, then to Butte, where Paul graduated from Butte High School in 1955.

While in high school, Paul's unique hand-eye coordination showed up on the football and baseball field, which helped play a significant role in his career later in life.

Paul attended Montana State University for a year before joining the U.S. Air Force, where he served as a navigator from 1957-1959. At the end of his full-time service, he continued in the Montana Air National Guard while he finished his degree in chemistry and liberal arts at MSU. He was honorably discharged as a captain and, later in life, received an Honorary Doctorate from MSU in 2017.

As an MSU student, Paul spotted a woman in the library and vowed to try to get to know her. A few years later, while in the Guard in Great Falls, Paul attended a party where he finally met that woman from the MSU library, Terry Potter, an art teacher at East Junior High School. Paul and Terry married in Helena on August 18, 1962, before leaving for New Orleans, where he entered Tulane University Medical School.

While in medical school, Paul discovered his love of orthopedics. Upon graduation, he was accepted into the University of Iowa's orthopedics residency, where he often said he was taught by some of the world's finest surgeons.

Paul and Terry returned to Great Falls in 1971, where he practiced medicine and was the first physician in the city to do a total hip, total knee, and arthroscopic knee surgery. After 30 years as a physician, Paul worked as medical affairs chief at Benefis Hospital and Mountain Pacific Foundation and finally as a staff physician at the VA Hospital at Fort Harrison in Helena.

Paul is survived by his children: Sheila (Bob Habeck) of Helena, John (Wendy Melvin) of Missoula, and Mickey (Chris Campbell) of Bozeman; and his grandchildren: Colin Habeck, Keaton Habeck, Addie Melvin, and Porter Melvin; his sister, Lynne Kitto, continues to live in Minneapolis, MN. He is preceded in death by Terry, who passed away on June 3, 2023, and his parents.

A lover of golf, writing poetry, reading, learning new things, family vacations, traveling the world, and the MSU Bobcats, Paul touched countless lives with his relentless care for others.

In place of flowers, please consider a memorial in Paul's name to Montana State University's program dedicated to nursing education for Native American students. Send donations to MSU Caring for Our Own Program, P.O. Box 173560, Bozeman, MT, 59717-3560.

A memorial service will be held in the spring of 2024.

Please visit www.aswfuneralhome.com to offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of Paul.