T. Melvin Lee was the seventh child of Thorvald and Mathilda Lee. He was born in a three-room frame house on the family farm located in Norma Township. The Lee homestead was located by road seven miles from Fingal and fourteen miles from Valley City. Melvin attended the one-room school located on the corner of the farm. After his public school education, he worked as a hotel clerk in Hebron, South Dakota and Valley City. For a short time he attended Dixon College in Illinois. He worked four years as an assistant cashier at the bank in Kathryn. In 1915 he married Ruth Wilkins at her home in Tabor, Iowa. They met while she was teaching music and art in the public schools in Valley City. They were the parents of five daughters. In 1915 he was one of the principal organizers of the Middlewest Bank and Trust Company of Valley City. He served in various capacities until being named president when Colonel Frank White, former North Dakota governor, left to become U. S. Treasurer. Melvin remained bank president until the bank consolidated with American National Bank in September 1929. He then organized a farm management company and carried on an extensive insurance business. He was active in this work until his untimely death in an automobile accident while on a business trip. He was a member of the Congregational church, Kiwanis Club, and Eastern Star. His interests included photography, hunting, gardening, and sports.
T. Melvin Lee was the seventh child of Thorvald and Mathilda Lee. He was born in a three-room frame house on the family farm located in Norma Township. The Lee homestead was located by road seven miles from Fingal and fourteen miles from Valley City. Melvin attended the one-room school located on the corner of the farm. After his public school education, he worked as a hotel clerk in Hebron, South Dakota and Valley City. For a short time he attended Dixon College in Illinois. He worked four years as an assistant cashier at the bank in Kathryn. In 1915 he married Ruth Wilkins at her home in Tabor, Iowa. They met while she was teaching music and art in the public schools in Valley City. They were the parents of five daughters. In 1915 he was one of the principal organizers of the Middlewest Bank and Trust Company of Valley City. He served in various capacities until being named president when Colonel Frank White, former North Dakota governor, left to become U. S. Treasurer. Melvin remained bank president until the bank consolidated with American National Bank in September 1929. He then organized a farm management company and carried on an extensive insurance business. He was active in this work until his untimely death in an automobile accident while on a business trip. He was a member of the Congregational church, Kiwanis Club, and Eastern Star. His interests included photography, hunting, gardening, and sports.
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