Melvin Ard, Chanute
1918 - 2007
Melvin Ard of Chanute, who helped build the Alcan Highway during World War II and supervised construction of additions to Newman hospital and the Emporia State University Memorial Union, died Monday, Sept. 10, 2007, at the Golden Living Center in Chase County. He was 89.
He was born April 22, 1918, in rural Elsmore, the son of James G. and Pearl Shelton Ard. He joined the Army in World War II and was stationed in Alaska, where he worked on the construction of the long highway linking Alaska to Canada and the United States.
He married Edith Daniels in 1947 in Iola. They later divorced.
After his military service, he worked in Phoenix then settled in Chanute, working for construction companies. During the 1960s, he worked in Emporia, supervising construction of the Elms Unit at Newman hospital and an addition to the Memorial Union.
Survivors include three daughters, Gail Nurnberg of Emporia, Lori Blackwood of Louisburg and Barbara Brittingham of Highlands Ranch, Colo.; one son, Alan Ard of Iola; one sister, Joyce Mapp of Elsmore; 11 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by four brothers, Dewey Ard, Curtis Ard, Emerson Ard and Mervin Ard, and two great-grandchildren.
The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Elsmore United Methodist Church in Elsmore. Burial will be at the Elsmore Cemetery.
The family will meet with friends from 7 to 8 p.m. Friday at Feuerborn Family Funeral Service in Moran.