Melvin Edward Vigen Melvin Edward Vigen was born on April 1, 1928 the 3rd of 4 children for Edward Vigen and Martha Moe. He was the first in the family to be born in a hospital Mercy Hospital in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. Mels parents were farmers and spoke Norwegian at home, so when his older brothers Oscar and Bert went to school, they had to learn English. His brothers did not want Mel to be unprepared, so they made sure that he and his younger sister Gladys learned English before starting school. Mel started at a country school, a one room building with grades one through eight and a single teacher. He learned arithmetic very well because he sat with the older students. From second grade on, he attended city schools. In the 9th grade, Mel took a correspondence course in radios. He fixed peoples radios in order to pay for extracurricular activities. Mel was a member of the high school band for 4 years, chorus for one year, boys octet one year, intramural basketball two years and a member of the FFA chapter two years. In 1946, Mel graduated as valedictorian from Lincoln High School. Upon graduation, Mel entered Augsburg College, a Lutheran college in Minneapolis. He was interested in engineering since math and science came easy for him. Electrical engineering was especially appealing since he learned about electricity when it arrived on the family farm in 1941. After one year at Augsburg, he transferred to the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks which was much closer to the family farm. During his visits home, Mel sometimes filled in for the Pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Thief River Falls. He gave several sermons before graduating from college with a degree in electrical engineering. Mel was in Air Force ROTC in college and upon graduation in 1951 he received his commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the armament division. He was first assigned to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX. He was eventually based at Scott Air Force Base in St. Louis, IL. It was here that Marjorie Mace met Mel while she was visiting her brother Floyd (also stationed at the same base). Mel achieved the rank of captain. After his Air Force Service, Mel and Marjorie were married on July 25, 1953 and he began work as an electrical engineer. Mel held various jobs in electrical engineering he started out with Liquidometer in South Bend, Indiana. Collins Radio brought him to Dallas, Texas and he eventually retired from Rockwell Collins. He continued to work accepting a position at Bell Helicopter where he worked on various military and civilian helicopters until a second retirement. Even after 2 retirements, he continued to work as a consultant with Bell until age 80. He and Marjorie had 7 children Linda, Laura, Mark, David, Gary, Dianna, and Julie. In his spare time Mel enjoyed woodworking, photography, working on computers and attending grandchildren activities. He and Marjorie were blessed with 15 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren. Mel passed away on September 26, 2016 at Baylor Scott & White Hospital in Irving. Mel was preceded in death by his wife Marjorie, daughter Dianna, grandson Sean, his parents and brothers Oscar and Bert. He is survived by daughters Linda Arthur and husband Tom of Salem, SC, Laura Price and husband Jeff of Irving, Julie Vigen of Irving, sons Mark Vigen of Irving, David Vigen of Irving, Gary Vigen and wife Glenda of Grand Prairie, and sister Gladys Hallstrom of Thief River Falls, MN. The family received friends on Wednesday, September 28th at Donnelly's Colonial Funeral Home. Mass of Christian Burial was held on Thursday, September 29th at Holy Family of Nazareth Catholic Church. Melvin is buried at DFW National Cemetery.