Simonsen, Reverend Melvin Andrew James

1900 - 1975  (74 years)

• Name	Simonsen, Melvin Andrew James
  Prefix	Reverend
  1900 Census	1900
  Listed as Andrew
  Birth	19 May 1900	Beaver Dam, Dodge, Wisconsin, USA
  Gender	Male
  Religion	Aft 19 May 1900
  	E.U.B., then Methodist
  Education - Other	1922
  B.A. North Central College
  Religious Vows	Abt 1923
  ETS Seminary
  1930 Census	1930
  Lived in Milwaukee
  Occupation	Bef 11 Apr 1975
  Minister, Conference Superintendent
  Minister, Conference Superintendent
  Residence	Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
  Death	11 Apr 1975	Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
  	Cause: Automobile Accident
  Notes	He was my greatest fan. I knew intuitively that he loved me without question or condition. Such loving is rare and I attribute it to his unflagging Christian beliefs. I wept uncontrollably at his funeral for having lost such a sustaining friend. That unconditional love was passed to his daughter, my mother. He taught me to play tennis when he was 66 years old. I spent at least one week each summer with he and grandma Simonsen. I often walked to the church with him from the parsonage when he held his last pastorate. For many years before that though he served as Conference Superintendent and lived in Eau Claire. We spent many Thanksgivings there. In the early years, mom and we children rode the train from Milwaukee. Dad would make the long drive alone in the car, and we drove home as a family. Grandpa never really retired. Even after he had officially completed his ministry and moved to Milwaukee, he continued to work as an associate pastor in a church in the Milwaukee area. As a teenager I helped him work on his house in Milwaukee. This was the first and only home he owned, the rest having been supplied by the church. One summer we dug a trench for the sump pump drain on a hot July day. I recall we both took off our shirts and how odd it seemed to see white hair on a man's chest. When I came home from college I always visited his home. When I left he would always give me the "grand fatherly" handshake, which pressed a five dollar bill into my hand. The desk which sits in my home, and which I used in my law office, was my grandpa's desk. He bought it used when he began his ministry in the early twenties. It always sat in his study at home or in the church. The old legal bookcases belonged to his uncles, Augustus "Carl" Umbreit and Milton Umbreit, well known lawyers at the turn of the century in Milwaukee. Grandpa's favorite TV show was Perry Mason, and it is said that he contemplated the practice of law but was called to the ministry. Perhaps paradoxically, I contemplated the ministry but was called to the practice of law. He was struck by a drunk driver, 18 years old, a month before I took the bar exam. He lived for several days and prayed for the lad who ultimately killed him. He knew before he died of the coming birth of his first great grandchild, Sarah.
  Person ID	I129778	1FamilyTree
  Last Modified	23 Feb 2017

  
  

  Family	Hilker, Luella Dorothy,   b. 30 Jan 1901, Racine, Racine, Wisconsin, USA d. 25 May 1978 (Age 77 years)
  Marriage	11 Sep 1924	Racine, Racine, Wisconsin, USA
  Children	+ 1. Simonsen, Carol Marilyn,   b. 20 Jul 1926, , , Wisconsin, USA d. 13 Feb 2008 (Age 81 years) + 2. Simonsen, Melvin James
  Family ID	F42693	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	1 May 2010