Melvin Bernard Pundsack

Melvin was a true believer in his faith like going to church every Sunday, praying before every meal, or never turning off the rosary when it was playing over the radio. His dedication to his family and his faith truly make us believe that he is in heaven now standing next to god saying you see that tree in the back forty why don’t you send some lightning that way.

There are many stories like this and if you were the chosen one you could not change his mind to have someone else do it. One example is my uncle Steven, who is Melvin’s son, would come home to visit him from Wisconsin.

He would skip the hi, hello, or how are you doing, or how was the drive. Instead it would be I need something done and for Steven that day it was an old wood stove that needed to be moved in an abandoned neighbors house. When my uncle and I went over to the abandoned house Grandpa forgot to mention there were no more floors left inside the house except where the wood stove was standing.

Melvin’s six sense was truly amazing how he knew something needed to be done around the farm without ever leaving his house. It’s a secret that will never be revealed and that will keep all of us here wondering how he knew.

When Melvin’s six sense wasn’t going off he loved to play cards. Didn’t matter the time of day or if he was in the middle of his nap there was always time to play a friendly game of cards. During our game of cards he never spoke much about himself but he always asked how you were doing or what was new with you. Melvin always had his attention on the love for others.

Other than his love for cards or going to Breezy Point and enjoying the hot tub and sauna, he loved to run that wood stove upstairs in his house. For those of you lucky enough to stay the night at Rosemary and Melvins house in the dead of winter or in the fall you always had the comfort of staying in the 80 plus deg weather upstairs and

oh yeah don’t forget to bring the wood up from the basement on your way to bed. Many of us here get to enjoy the memories of us stacking wood and splitting wood in the basement or the smell of that wood stove roaring when you walked up to the house in the middle of winter.

My Grandpa set a great example to many of how hard work and dedication pays off. Some of you may not know, but Melvin and Rosemary were TV stars for a short period of time. On a Sunday morning when most of the family was in church he noticed there were cows out on the farm. He then wrangled up his wife Rosemary like I'm sure he has done many times before and went to put them back in, but this time was a little different as there was a bull in the mix. Melvin ended up getting hurt which left his wife Rosemary on top of a snow pile calling for help. I still remember that day in church when the whole family left to go and help. Now I am currently a Police Officer and I want to say we drive fast when someone is in need of help, but I know for a fact that day my uncle Greg, my dad keith and my brother Kyle did not drive the speed limit to go and help grandma and grandpa that day as they almost beat the cops to the farm that showed up moments before them to subdue the bull with a taser. This made headline news in Minnesota and made my Grandma and Grandpa local celebrities for a short period of time. If there are two things to learn from this story it’s, if you are going to drive fast make sure you're behind the cops and that any one of us would have helped Melvin in a time of need as I know he has helped others the same way in life.

During the final months of Melvin’s life we as a family went and visited Melvin in the nursing home. We did finally find something Melvin enjoyed more than just playing cards and that was his love for watching his TV shows. When it came time for The Price is Right, the Wheel of Fortune, or watching Little House on the Prairie for the hundredth time, you could never get him away from the TV.

Some family members even remember saying they had to start scheduling appointments with Melvin to enjoy his company if they were going to visit during one of his TV shows. But if there is one thing that’s for sure is when his TV shows weren’t on, I remember walking into his room at the nursing home and he could not get out of bed fast enough to enjoy a game of 500 or kings in the corner.

To him, playing cards was a passtime. For a lot of us it was more than that. It was a much needed break from life. You could always go to Grandpa’s and get away from the stressful moments we have each day living on this earth to play a game of cards and I thank him for that.

He was truly a remarkable Husband, a Father, a brother, a Grandfather, a Great Grandfather and a Friend to many and will be dearly missed. One day we will meet again and we will get to join in with other loved ones that have gone before us and when we are ready to join you I know you will be waiting to play another game of cards.

Written by:

Brady Pundsack (Grandson)