Gary L. Mellema

Gary L. Mellema

Sept. 22, 1939 - Feb. 22, 2023

RIDGEFIELD - Gary L. Mellema was born September 22, 1939 in Portland, OR. He passed away the morning of February 22, 2023, at the age of 83 from an unexpected heart attack, in his home, in Ridgefield, WA. He was a proud graduate of Jefferson High School, class of 1957 in Portland, OR and attended Clark College. In 1959 he chose to go into the US Army and in only two years achieved the rank of E5, a rare occurrence. After the Army, Gary went to work for Shell Oil in 1962 at the Willbridge Terminal in Portland. During this time, he also put himself through schooling at Portland State College. Soon after, he went to dealer manager training school for Shell Oil and held jobs as fuel, tires, batteries and accessories representative, dealer recruiter in Oregon and later real estate in Oregon and the San Francisco Bay area.

Gary began dating Penny (Paulene Pickhard) and they were married May 29, 1965 in Portland, OR. They were married for 57 years and lived in Longview, WA for 48 years. While living in San Jose, CA and still working for Shell Oil, Gary took the opportunity to go into business for himself and returned to the northwest and bought the Kelso, WA based Hall Oil Company, a Shell jobber, in 1974. The company had two people in the office and three drivers back then. In 1984 he merged Hall Oil with the Longview based Chevron Jobber Wilson Oil, Inc./ Wilcox & Flegel and later added the BP, 76 and Texaco fuel brands and created the Flying K name.

Gary helped out many family members over the years and loved them so very much. Additionally, he was so proud of the employees he hired that are still working today or retired from Wilcox & Flegel. He also enjoyed providing for all the sports teams in the 1980's, 1990's and early 2000's that Wilcox & Flegel sponsored under his direction. Gary retired in 2008 after marketing Shell fuels for 46 continuous years. He was a long-time member of Longview Country Club, Desert Falls Country Club and Bermuda Dunes Country Club in the Palm Springs area.

Gary was preceded in death by his father Louis and mother Marjorie (Silva) Mellema and is survived by his wife, son Jason (Gaylene) of Longview, WA, daughter Judith Walling (David) of Vancouver, WA and son John (Karen) of Bend, OR; grandchildren Brooke Walling, Reece Walling and honorary grandchildren Kiela Salberg (Derrick), Karli Moore and Dylan Bladow. Also surviving, his brother Jim (Marilyn) of Oregon City, OR, sister Connie (Lenny) Krombein of Portland, OR and sister Dena (Chuck) Wiesman of Vancouver, WA and in-laws Barbara (Norwyn) Newby of Bend, OR and Frederick (Claudia) Pickhard of Portland, OR. Also, many cousins, nieces, and nephews. Inurnment at Longview Memorial Park.

The family invites all that ever knew Gary to a Celebration of Life at the Longview Country Club 41 Country Club Drive Longview, WA on Saturday, May 6 from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Bring a story about Gary to share with the celebration.

A scholarship program in Gary's name has been set up with Lower Columbia College in Longview, WA. In lieu of flowers please consider donating in his name at Lower Columbia College Foundation PO Box 3010 Longview, WA 98632 or visiting the link at lowercolumbia.edu/foundation