Our beloved father and patriarch of our family, father, grandfather, great- grandfather and great-great-grandfather, Edward Mehalich, passed away in his care home with his family and caregiver Mary Pitt by his side, on June 17, 2017, at 5:30 a.m.
His sons and granddaughter surrounded him as he passed away peacefully in his sleep from congestive heart failure.
Edward was born in Tooele, Utah, on Sept. 23, 1921, to John Mehalich and Anna Sodac Mehalich. He married Velma Rose Alred on Dec. 28, 1945, in Tooele, Utah.
He served in the CCC camps as a young man, joined the Army and fought for our freedom in World War II in the European Theater, supplying the Russian front in the battle for Leningrad. He was honorably discharged as a corporal. He started working at Tooele Army Depot after the war in the ammunition area and survived three explosions during his time there. He received injuries and lost fellow workers to fatalities from the explosions.
He retired from the Tooele Army Depot in 1977 as a branch manager . He was a caregiver and helped raise his grandchildren, always with an open door and heart.
He is survived by his three sons, and daughter, Edward J. Mehalich and Paul A. Mehalich of Tooele; Bruce A. Mehalich of Salt Lake City and Johanna M. Pitt of Susanville, California; five grandchildren: Jill Scofield Snow, of Elko, Nevada, Robert Scofield of Ogden, Utah, Brian Pitt and Nicole Mehalich of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Travis Pitt of Susanville, California; four great-grandchildren: Brian Pitt of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Michael Snow, Brett Snow and Craig Snow, all of Elko, Nevada; and two great-great-grandchildren, Jager Scofield of Ogden and Kylie Carter of Elko, Nevada. He was preceded in death by his wife, Velma Rose Alred Mehalich; his daughter, Marlene Alred Schofield; his brother, Johnny Mehalich; his sisters, Dorothy Mehalich, Annie Bavalis, Johanna Force, Lillian Hale and Mary Mehalich and grandchildren Scott Edward Mehalich, Edward George Mehalich and Jacob B. Pitt.
He will be dearly missed by all who loved him.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, June 22, 2017, at 2 p.m. at Didericksen Memorial Funeral Home, 87 W. Main St., Grantsville, Utah 84029. His interment will be announced at a later date, at Tooele Cemetery, Tooele Utah, with full military honors.