Melvin Atkinson
July 28, 1934-June 26, 2021
Melvin Atkinson, 86, of
Hazen ND, passed away
peacefully on June 26,
2021, at Sakakawea Medi-
cal Center, Hazen with
family by his side. Visita-
tion will be held on Tues-
day, July 6th, 2021 at 9:00
AM CDT with a memorial
service to follow at 10:00
AM at the Barbot Funeral
Home in Beulah followed
by his burial at the North
Dakota Veteran’s
Cemetery, Mandan, ND at
2:00 PM CDT.
Mel was born July 28,
1934, in Bottineau County
to Thomas Nelson Atkin-
son and Johanna (Liebelt)
Atkinson. Mel was bap-
tized in Willow City ND
in 1941. He grew up on
the family farm and gra-
duated from Willow City
High School in 1952. Mel
continued in his family’s
long history of military
service and enlisted in the
U.S. Army in 1954 and
was Honorably
Discharged in 1956. He re-
ceived the National De-
fense Service and the
Good Conduct Medals
and continued in the
Army Reserve for an addi-
tional 8 years. Mel furth-
ered his education at the
ND School of Forestry in
Bottineau and at NDSU in
Fargo.
Mel met Shirley Erick-
son in 1957 and they were
united in marriage on
June 21, 1958 in Rugby
ND. They lived in Towner
while Mel worked on con-
struction projects. In
1980, Mel and Shirley
moved their family to
Hazen to work in the
power plant industry. It
was common to see Mel
working with and sharing
his love of horses with his
family and friends. He be-
came involved with rais-
ing Montana Travler
horses in 1994 and con-
tinued with that for many
years.
Mel’s passion for horses
led him on countless trail
rides, numerous wagon
trains including the Girls
Scouts of American
wagon train in 1991,
President Clinton’s inau-
gural parade in 1993, and
the Pony Express to Chey-
enne, WY, in 1994. Mel
was a member of the U.S.
Marshal Posse, the West
River Teamsters Associa-
tion, and the Western
Canadian Wheelwright
Association.
Mel is survived by: his
wife of 63 years, Shirley
of Hazen, and their chil-
dren Sarah Elder (Ben
Elder) of Valley City ND,
Tom Atkinson of Ayr ND,
Sandra Krause (Bob
Krause) of Parker CO, and
Tim Atkinson of Blan-
chard ND. Mel was a lov-
ing grandfather to his
grandchildren, Shane
Tragesser, Dustin
Tragesser, Nicole Krause,
Matthew Krause (Abigail
Krause), Kristy Larson
(Travis Larson), and
Kaitlyn Atkinson. He was
also the proud
great-grandfather to Kyson
Larson, Thielyn Larson,
and Katherine Krause.
Mel is also survived by
his two sisters, Donna
Cote of Missoula MT and
Sally Brandt of Cleveland
TN, along with numerous
loving cousins, nieces,
and nephews.
Mel was preceded in
death by: his parents Tho-
mas and Johanna; broth-
ers Harold Atkinson, May-
nard Atkinson and his
wife Ana Atkinson;
brothers-in-law Sheldon
(Ted) Brandt and Victor
Cote.
Our family would like
to express our heartfelt
thanks and gratitude to all
who have been so
thoughtful and kind dur-
ing this time. Your love,
support, and friendship is
greatly appreciated by us
all
In lieu of flowers, dona-
tions can made be made
to the Western North
Dakota Honor Flight @
PO Box 265, Bismarck ND
58502 –
www.westernndhf.org
Arrangements are con-
ducted by Barbot Funeral
Home, Beulah and Hazen.