Wasco-Polk County OR Archives Obituaries.....Sasser, Melvin Dale October 25, 2004 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com April 4, 2006, 10:00 pm The Dalles Chronicle, October 26, 2004 Merlyn Dale Sasser, 87, a long-time resident of The Dalles, died Monday, Oct. 25, 2004 at the Oregon Veterans Home. He was born March 24, 1917 in Mitchell, Ore.to John P. and Sarah Pearl (Trent) Sasser and came to The Dalles with his mother in 1920. He attended local schools including Court Street School and Whittier Junior High School, both now no longer standing, and graduated from The Dalles High School in 1936. Following his graduation, he worked as a delivery truck driver for Standard Oil for three years before going to work for the Union Pacific Railroad. He worked from 1939 until being drafted into the U.S. Army in March of 1941. He served in the Philippines as a tank driver, and met his wife-to- be, Georgia Hazel Bickel, while a sergeant in training at Fort Knox, Ky. After four years and nine months of active duty he was discharged in December of 1945 and returned to work for the railroad. He worked for Union Pacific for 41 years, retiring in 1979. He had been a brakeman and a conductor on freight and passenger trains, and was proud of having served his entire career without a reprimand. Active in his community, he was a member of the First Christian Church in The Dalles since his baptism in 1939, and active in the church’s Kum Dubble class, also serving as a deacon. He was also a member of Wasco Lodge #15 A.F.& A.M., and of several Masonic organizations, including The Dalles Chapter No. 6 of Royal Arch Masons, Columbia Commandery of Knights Templar, the Order of the Eastern Star, and as a member of the Al Kader Shrine’s Mid-Columbia Shrine Club he chaired the Shriners Hospital for Children local outreach screening clinic here in The Dalles for a number of years. He had also served as a Dad Advisor for the W.A. Johnston Chapter of the Order of Demolay in The Dalles during the 1980’s. He was a volunteer driver for the American Cancer Society’s “Road to Recovery” program and also for the Mid-Columbia Senior Center’s Meals on Wheels program. He loved the outdoors and was an avid trout fisherman. He took his family on many picnics and camping trips and thrilled at the wildlife, mountains and sunsets of Oregon’s wilderness areas. As a veteran he was active in the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars organizations. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Hazel Sasser, The Dalles, and by his children; daughters Donna Hinds, Milwaukie, and Hazlyn McBride, Vancouver, and his son Douglas Dale Sasser of Portland; grandchildren MeLeesa, Jaqui, Drew and Geoffrey and great-grandchildren Noah, Zechariah, and Gracelyn. A celebration of life service will be held at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2004 at The Dalles First Christian Church with Pastor Mike Wilson presiding, followed by a reception. Private interment with Masonic honors will be held at the I.O.O.F. Cherry Heights Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to The Dalles First Christian Church Building Fund or to Shriners Hospital for Children c/o Mid-Columbia Shrine Club, 1712 Roberts St., The Dalles, OR 97058. Arrangements are by Columbia Cremation & Burial. Additional Comments: Written permission to reprint given by The Dalles Chronicle, The Dalles, Oregon, Dan Spatz, Editor (e-mail dated 3/7/2006). File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/wasco/obits/s/sasser805gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 3.9 Kb