Melvin Lee Shipley

Melvin Lee Shipley, 94, of Austin, passed away on Friday, October 6, 2023. He was born on January 1, 1929, in West Lafayette, Ohio, to Cecil Owen Shipley, Sr. and Kathleen (Edwards) Shipley, of a family of ten, with three brothers and four sisters.

He was hard-working and willing to do anything on the farm to help his family. He joined the military in 1947. With the death of his parents, he returned home to help his youngest brother. He took a job working at the Triadelphia Coal Mine and had his first daughter, Deborah Lee Shipley. In 1950, he re-enlisted with his brother John, this time with the Air Force, and began a long career in the military as an X-ray tech.

In 1954, he accepted a job offer at Memorial Hospital in Houston where he met his future wife Maycel Marie Alley. They were together for 61 years, until her passing in 2016. In 1989 he retired from the military, having worked his way up to Sergeant Major E9.

Melvin was a devoted Christian, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He loved horse races, old movies, hunting, and telling stories about his childhood. He was an avid bowler and bowled in his league right up until September of this year. His friends and family will miss his advice, wisdom, love, and enthusiasm for life.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Cecil Owen Shipley, Sr. and Kathleen (Edwards) Shipley, and his brothers and sister, Lloyd E. Hilbert, Evelyn R. (Hilbert) Foster, Cecile O. Shipley, Jr., Doris E. (Shipley) Nicholson, Adaline M. (Shipley) Ferguson, Leona F. (Shipley) van Sickle, and John L. Shipley.

He is survived by his children, Debby L. Wahlster, Dawna V. Alexander, Nelson W. Shipley, and Ronald L. Shipley; his grandchildren, Lisa Shipley, Jessica Nance, Damien Alexander, Ella Funderburgh, Kathleen Shipley, Natalie Bretz, Michael Shipley, and Travis Shipley; and nineteen great-grandchildren.