Melvin Lawrence Lamm was born in Nampa, Idaho on Aug. 4, 1936. He passed away on Nov. 6, 2018 after a brief illness.
He graduated from Greenleaf Academy in 1954, and enrolled that Fall in what was then Cascade College, now George Fox University. His older brother, Don, was a returning student that fall and recruited Mel to sing with him at an event. Don even knew who should accompany them: Margaret Hancuff. Within two weeks, Mel and Margaret knew they would be life-long partners and announced their engagement. They married a year later, and recently celebrated their 63rd anniversary.
Together, they raised six children: Carrie, Ron, Ellen, Rick, Debbie, and Randy. Just like a well-planned music score, the children were born in perfect order: girl – boy – girl – boy – girl – boy.
The family has grown a bit since those 6 kids left home!
Carrie is married to Paul Bishop, and their children are Jeffrey & Amanda.
Ron is married to Renee’. Their children are Carol, Michelle, Nathan, and Jessica.
Carol and her husband, Raymond Hintz, are parents to Luke, Josiah, Judah, Zoe, and Adina.
Michelle is married to Bob Shanley, and their son is Liam.
Nathan and his wife, Pamela, are parents to Bentley.
Ellen Parr’s children are Carissa, Kelsey, and Tim.
Carissa is married to Jarred Birge. Their sons are Brody, Jett, and Cade.
Kelsey and her husband, Nathan Bowhay, have a son named Monroe.
Debbie is married to Rob Bray, and Randy is married to Alisha.
In case you lost track, that’s 6 kids with 4 spouses, 9 grandchildren with 5 spouses, and 11 great grandchildren. That’s 35 descendants! (So far!)
Mel invested time and energy with each generation of his family. They knew him, and knew they were special to him. He was somewhat of a child at heart, himself, and never tired of visiting Disneyland, which had opened the same year he and Margaret married.
Regardless of the jobs he had, music was the story of Mel’s life. He was even known as “The Singing Milkman” by some of the customers on his milk route as a young man.
Later he went into the insurance business. When he wasn’t hard at work selling policies, he was usually busy with family and church events. Sometimes, the family and church events were one and the same, as the family often sang together in churches around the Pacific Northwest before the kids left home. Before today’s service began, you may have noticed that several of Mel’s recorded pieces were played. You will hear more of his and the Lamm Family Singers’ music throughout the service. The family pieces were recorded at a live concert in the early 1970s.
Mel Lamm never met a stranger. He will be remembered for his goofy jokes and hearty laugh – you knew when Mel was in the room. Always game for a practical joke, he didn’t even seem to mind when the joke was on him. Like when Debbie surprised him during her wedding.
As a member of New Hope Community Church and a weekly small group, he expressed his love for God, was honest about his shortcomings, and modeled grace. Do you know anyone who shows more unconditional love than Mel did? To his wife, to his kids, to his extended family, friends and associates.
In retirement, Mel took a part-time job driving cars for Enterprise. His colleagues there knew of his faith, his music, his family, and Margaret’s incredible baking.
His passing was such a shock to all of us. He went to work on Friday, Nov. 2, then experienced an aorta dissection the moment he got home. Although it’s a rather rare condition, there were experts on hand at OR Health Sciences University, and Mel had surgery the next day. The surgery was successful, but there were complications in his recovery and he never regained consciousness. His family is eternally grateful for the skillful, dedicated, and caring medical team who treated him.
We already miss Mel. What he meant to each one of us will forever live on in our hearts.