Melvin Eitel was born May 2, 1934, in a white house at 412 Cherry Mountain Street, Forest City, NC, to Arthur R. and Helen Griffin Eitel.
When he was seven, he lost his five-year-old brother Harry to an accident in the driveway of the family home on Cherry Mountain Street. When he was seventeen, his older brother Earl was killed in a motorcycle crash un U.S. 64 in Logan Store, NC. Later he would lose his mother to breast cancer when she was only 56.
He joined the United States Army at 17 and was a Private First Class with the 82nd Airborne Division. He ended up making over 250 parachute jumps.
Later, he attended Gardner-Webb College (now University) in Boiling Springs, NC before going to State Patrol School and becoming Trooper M. A. Eitel with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. He was stationed at Troop G in Asheville, NC for nearly 20 years, until an off-duty auto accident that wasn't his fault disabled him and forced him to retire.
Melvin was a member of the First Baptist Church of Forest City, NC. He married Carolyn Elizabeth Thomas on July 11, 1972, and was married to her until his death on April 17, 2009, at Rutherford Hospital in Rutherfordton, NC.
His interests included history, firearms, reading, trains, aviation, cars, and some antiques. He loved to spend a week at the beach every summer with his family. He was a very good father who was very generous with his time and money, and became even more so as he got older. His wife, children, grandchildren, and the rest of his family miss him.
When he was seven, he lost his five-year-old brother Harry to an accident in the driveway of the family home on Cherry Mountain Street. When he was seventeen, his older brother Earl was killed in a motorcycle crash un U.S. 64 in Logan Store, NC. Later he would lose his mother to breast cancer when she was only 56.
He joined the United States Army at 17 and was a Private First Class with the 82nd Airborne Division. He ended up making over 250 parachute jumps.
Later, he attended Gardner-Webb College (now University) in Boiling Springs, NC before going to State Patrol School and becoming Trooper M. A. Eitel with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. He was stationed at Troop G in Asheville, NC for nearly 20 years, until an off-duty auto accident that wasn't his fault disabled him and forced him to retire.
Melvin was a member of the First Baptist Church of Forest City, NC. He married Carolyn Elizabeth Thomas on July 11, 1972, and was married to her until his death on April 17, 2009, at Rutherford Hospital in Rutherfordton, NC.
His interests included history, firearms, reading, trains, aviation, cars, and some antiques. He loved to spend a week at the beach every summer with his family. He was a very good father who was very generous with his time and money, and became even more so as he got older. His wife, children, grandchildren, and the rest of his family miss him.
Melvin Eitel was born May 2, 1934, in a white house at 412 Cherry Mountain Street, Forest City, NC, to Arthur R. and Helen Griffin Eitel.
When he was seven, he lost his five-year-old brother Harry to an accident in the driveway of the family home on Cherry Mountain Street. When he was seventeen, his older brother Earl was killed in a motorcycle crash un U.S. 64 in Logan Store, NC. Later he would lose his mother to breast cancer when she was only 56.
He joined the United States Army at 17 and was a Private First Class with the 82nd Airborne Division. He ended up making over 250 parachute jumps.
Later, he attended Gardner-Webb College (now University) in Boiling Springs, NC before going to State Patrol School and becoming Trooper M. A. Eitel with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. He was stationed at Troop G in Asheville, NC for nearly 20 years, until an off-duty auto accident that wasn't his fault disabled him and forced him to retire.
Melvin was a member of the First Baptist Church of Forest City, NC. He married Carolyn Elizabeth Thomas on July 11, 1972, and was married to her until his death on April 17, 2009, at Rutherford Hospital in Rutherfordton, NC.
His interests included history, firearms, reading, trains, aviation, cars, and some antiques. He loved to spend a week at the beach every summer with his family. He was a very good father who was very generous with his time and money, and became even more so as he got older. His wife, children, grandchildren, and the rest of his family miss him.
When he was seven, he lost his five-year-old brother Harry to an accident in the driveway of the family home on Cherry Mountain Street. When he was seventeen, his older brother Earl was killed in a motorcycle crash un U.S. 64 in Logan Store, NC. Later he would lose his mother to breast cancer when she was only 56.
He joined the United States Army at 17 and was a Private First Class with the 82nd Airborne Division. He ended up making over 250 parachute jumps.
Later, he attended Gardner-Webb College (now University) in Boiling Springs, NC before going to State Patrol School and becoming Trooper M. A. Eitel with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. He was stationed at Troop G in Asheville, NC for nearly 20 years, until an off-duty auto accident that wasn't his fault disabled him and forced him to retire.
Melvin was a member of the First Baptist Church of Forest City, NC. He married Carolyn Elizabeth Thomas on July 11, 1972, and was married to her until his death on April 17, 2009, at Rutherford Hospital in Rutherfordton, NC.
His interests included history, firearms, reading, trains, aviation, cars, and some antiques. He loved to spend a week at the beach every summer with his family. He was a very good father who was very generous with his time and money, and became even more so as he got older. His wife, children, grandchildren, and the rest of his family miss him.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
