Melville James Coolbaugh

Melville James (“Mel”) Coolbaugh passed away after a short illness at Foothills Hospital, Boulder, Colorado, at the age of 91. Mel was preceded in death by his wife, Carolyn Morton Howe in 2018, and is survived by five children, Mark Coolbaugh (fiancée Mariana), Carl Coolbaugh (wife Alberta), Elizabeth Coolbaugh (husband Brandon), Jeffrey Coolbaugh (wife Mary Ann), and Barry Isenhart. He is also survived by 13 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, with at least one more great-grandchild on the way.

Mel was born on April 22nd, 1929 in Golden, Colorado to parents Frank and Evelyn Coolbaugh and grew up in the towns of Golden, Climax, and Leadville, Colorado, while his father worked in the mining industry. He had a great interest in all things mechanical, especially automobiles, as evidenced by rebuilding a car with spare parts as a teenager during WWII, at a time when functioning automobiles were hard to come by, especially for boys scarcely old enough to drive. He first met Carolyn, the girl that would become the love of his life, in the second grade, but they didn’t marry until he returned from military service in the Korean War. They were married Dec. 29, 1951.

Mel graduated with an “Engineer of Mines” degree from the Colorado School of Mines in 1954. Shortly thereafter, he and Carolyn traveled to Canada, where Mel worked in the Rouyn-Noranda mining camp in Quebec. From there, they moved to Boston, where Mel took business courses at Harvard. Needing income to supplement his educational costs, by chance he found work as a miner in Boston driving a tunnel under the harbor. They subsequently moved to San Manuel, Arizona, where Mel worked both as a miner and a mine research engineer at the San Manuel underground block-cave mine. While there, he helped develop new underground grouting and blasting techniques, documented in several published papers.

After San Manuel, they moved to Chicago, where he worked for International Minerals and Chemical Corp. as a mining research engineer. The Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration gave Mel the Peele Award in 1968 for his research into the optimal development of potash mines under conditions of plastic rock flow at depth.

As the family grew up, additional positions he held included mine manager at the Sunnyside gold mine for Standard Metals Corp. in Silverton, Colorado; manager of operations for Federal Resources Corp. in Salt Lake City, Utah (with mines at Camp Bird, CO and Lordsburg, NM); and manager of mine engineering for Union Pacific Mining Corp./Rocky Mountain Energy in Denver, Colorado. After retiring from Rocky Mountain Energy in 1982, Mel worked part time as a mine litigation arbitrator and developer of mine resource software.

Mel received a purple heart while serving in the army during the Korean War. He enlisted as a private and was honorably discharged as Sergeant First Class. His company was involved in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, from which there were two survivors in his group. After retirement, Mel worked actively with the Chosin Few organization, providing historical accounts and maps of the campaign.

Dad will always be remembered for his devotion to his wife and children. Although he avoided crowds, enjoyed time alone, and had an independent streak, he had a strong sense of fairness in both his family life and professional career. His primary hobby and passion was repairing and rebuilding automobiles, which he expressed by repairing the cars of an ever-growing number of descendents. In later years, when it became difficult to crawl beneath vehicles, he repaired and rebuilt computers for family members and non-profit organizations.

A memorial service will be set at a later time after the virus pandemic subsides. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to your favorite charity or to one of the following charities supported by Mel: TRU Community Care, Soaring Eagle (Northern Cheyenne Retirement Home), or Church World Service.