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McPhee: Melville Anthony July 7, 1922 - November 30, 2005 Melville Anthony McPhee of Edmonton passed away November 30 at the age of 83 after a short but valiant battle with cancer. He will be greatly missed by his loving wife Eva, his sister-in-law Nellie (Mrs.Wallace) McPhee of Westbank, B.C., his sister-in-law Kay (Mrs. Elmer) McPhee of Calgary, and many nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews to whom he was a very special uncle. He was predeceased by his parents Joseph and Mary, brothers Alonzo, Wallace, Chester, and Elmer, an infant sister Margaret, and his sister-in-laws Mae (Mrs. Chester) McPhee and Ida (Smart) Nygaard. Mel was born in Drumheller, where the family had recently moved so that his father could work in the coal mines. He grew up in Wayne. He left school in Grade 10 to help support the family and had a variety of jobs in the Drumheller valley. He enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1942, and served in the infantry with the Loyal Edmonton (49th) Regiment. He trained in Canada and England, saw active duty in Italy and Holland and was a veteran of the Battle of Ortona. After demobilization, he returned to the Drumheller area, then moved in 1952 to Elk Island National Park, where he worked for the Park Service. He married Eva Smart of Wayne in 1955. In 1956 they moved to Edmonton, where Mel went to work for the Alberta Department of Highways (later Transportation). He remained there for the rest of his career, retiring as a manager in the sign shop in 1981. He and Eva enjoyed a happy retirement, travelling and sharing their sociability and hospitality with friends and family. Highlights of his retirement were his three trips to Italy to revisit Ortona, and his involvement with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment °© in particular, his countless hours volunteering at the regimental museum. He maintained contact with friends from his childhood in Wayne, and was instrumental in organizing a Wayne reunion in 1982, as well as the erection of a commemorative monument to the Wayne cemetery in 2004. A memorial celebration of Mel's life was held Saturday, December 3, 2005 in Edmonton. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Mel may be made to St. Joseph's Auxiliary Hospital, Palliative Care, 10707 °© 29 Ave., Edmonton T6J 6W1, or to the Museum of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, Prince of Wales Armouries, 10440 °© 108 Ave., Edmonton, T5H 3Z9.