Melvin Hoover

Melvin ‘Mel’ Hoover,

93, Minot, went home to

the Lord on Tuesday, Sep-

tember 21, 2021, in his

home.

Melvin was born Au-

gust 1, 1928, in Minot, ND

to Ray and Martha (Tan-

nehill) Hoover. He was

raised and educated in

Minot, graduating with

the Minot High School

Class of 1947.

Mel entered active duty

with the US Navy on

January 11, 1946, com-

pleting the application

process to serve his coun-

try while he was in high

school. He served honor-

ably and was discharged

on November 13, 1947.

Mel earned a degree in

Business Management

and Accounting at Minot

State University in 1950.

Mel was united in mar-

riage to Yvonne Falstad

on July 28, 1950, at Beth-

lehem Lutheran Church

in Garrison. This union

would be blessed with 71

years of love, dedication

to one another and seven

children. They lived in

Garrison for a year until

moving to the Magic City

in 1954. Yvonne went to

her heavenly home with

Jesus on February 19,

2020.

Mel worked in the auto

sales industry his entire

professional career. He

started at Westlie Motor

Company working his

way to manager of the of-

fice and sales department.

During his tenure with

Westlie’s, Mel earned

many awards for sale and

was recognized as one of

Ford’s Top 30 general

sales managers in the US.

Mel became partner in

Blesener Oldsmobile &

Nissan in 1979 and re-

ceived many manage-

ments and sales awards

form Oldsmobile and Nis-

san as well. Mel retired in

1992.

Mel was a member of

St. Paul’s Lutheran

Church, Minot and was

one the founding

members with the Good

Shepherd Lutheran

School. He served as

President of the Minot

Motor Association and

served as a board member

of the ND Auto Dealer’s

Association.

Mel was an avid golfer

and a member of the

Minot Country Club who

won the Club Champion-

ship in 1979. Mel loved

spending time in Arizona

working on his golf game

with his family and

friends. In later years, he

enjoyed competitive

games of gin with his fam-

ily.

Mel is survived by his

children Eugene (Becky)

Hoover, Platte City, MO,

Ford Hoover, Sun City

West, AZ, Melanie (Carl)

Cathey, Dallas, TX, Carrie

(Don) Folkert, Minot, ND,

Spencer (Kristin) Hoover,

Thief River Falls, MN and

DeNeÈ Kurpiel, Dallas,

TX; grandchildren, Jason

Hoover, Kirk Hoover,

Ryan Hoover, Ashley (Ho-

over) Bodik, Lanna

(Armstrong) Kreck, Chuck

Huber, Heather Huber, Ja-

son Huber, Skye (Folkert)

Leedahl, Amber Folkert,

Morgan (Schmaltz)

Thompson, Kyle

Schmaltz, Amber(Kurpiel)

Jeffcoat and Mandie Kur-

piel; 15

great-grandchildren along

with numerous nieces and

nephews.

Mel was preceded in

death by his wife Yvonne

and son Steven.

Funeral Service: 11:00

a.m. Tuesday, September

28, 2021 at St. Paul’s

Lutheran Church, Minot.

To view a livestream of

the service or share

memories and con-

dolences please access his

obituary at

www.thomasfamily

funeralhome.com

Interment: Rosehill

Memorial Park, Minot

Visitation: Monday,

September 27, 2021 from

3:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m.

at the Thomas Family

Funeral Home, Minot.

Memorials are pre-

ferred to Lutheran World

Relief, Salvation Army or

Great Plains Food Bank.