Living history: WWII vet celebrates 100th birthday
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Charles Mellars took his first driving physical last year, at age 99 – and passed. Mellars drives himself to the gym three times a week, to church, around Washington and to visit family and friends, some out of state.
Charles Mellars' State Farm insurance ads appeared regularly in the Observer-Reporter throughout the '70s and '80s, but the man is more than a business owner. Mellars served in both World War II and the Korean War, was happily married for nearly 70 years and raised three children, and is now a grandfather and great-grandfather who still works out and drives, both his truck and golf balls in the backyard.
Charles Mellars is pictured here wearing his Army uniform. Mellars was drafted in 1942, served as a staff sergeant and earned a combat infantry badge.
Courtesy of Nancy Mellars
Charles Mellars first laid eyes on Evelyn Morrison when she moved into his Washington neighborhood in high school, and it was love at first sight. Pictured here are the newly wed couple.
Courtesy of Nancy Mellars
Charles Mellars, a lifelong Washington resident, served in both World War II and the Korean War, in the Army and National Guard, respectively. Now nearing his 100th birthday, Mellars, who built a successful local State Farm insurance agency, said his military service is one of his proudest accomplishments.
Courtesy of Nancy Mellars
Charles Mellars turns 100 on July 29. He still has his baby photo, shown here, and a collection of meaningful artifacts he’s collected during his lifetime, including a guitar he won for selling salve as a kid and a hat he purchased on an Alaskan tour.
Charles Mellars is a living history book. The World War II veteran turns 100 years old July 29 and has proudly called the greater Washington area home for 10 decades.
“I was born right here in town, in Washington, on Ewing Street,” Mellars said recently, adding he’s only lived out of the area once, when he worked briefly at a factory in Ohio. “I had a job operating trolleys from Washington, Pittsburgh, and all the local lines, I worked each one of them. I’ve seen a lot of changes.”
Mellars was born in 1923 to William and Octavia Gray Mellars, who had nine children (seven survived to adulthood). His childhood reads like an early 20th century novel.
As a kid, Mellars won a guitar that he still has for being the top Cloverine Salve door-to-door salesman. And in 1939, he and Roger sold so many newspapers they won a trip to the New York World’s Fair, where they laid eyes upon newfangled technology called the television.
“We walked by and there’s a screen out. When we walked by, we looked up; there we were, walking by on that screen. ‘What the heck, man, what is this?'” Mellars laughed. “Roger runs in wherever the camera was, I stand out there and watch him. I ran in, back and forth. We saw that, 1939, first television we saw. It was just wow.”
Wow, too, was the moment 17- or 18-year-old Mellars laid eyes on his new neighbor, a young lady by the name of Evelyn Morrison.
“We lived on Arch Street. A new family moved in next door. Pretty soon, some girl came out, and I eyeballed her. (I thought), she’s mine,” Mellars smiled. “First sight, that was it, no more girlfriends. We were together 72 years.”
The first few years of their marriage, Mellars was overseas. In 1942, the year he graduated from Washington High School, he was drafted into the U.S. Army 86th Infantry Division, a service he considers his life’s proudest work.
He thanks his parents for holding him back a year; he didn’t start school until he was 7. “That one year difference made a world of difference in my life all the way through,” Mellars said. “June of ’42 I graduated. Of course I was drafted right away. I was 19, that was the one year difference. I would’ve been out at 18 a year before, but I went at 19. So that kept me away from the big invasion.”
But not the action. Mellars served in Europe, where his unit came under enemy fire. Mellars, a staff sergeant, was wounded as he jumped to safety and, though offered a Purple Heart, declined the prestigious medal.
“Artillery had nothing to do with it (my injury). Just made me dive, and stupid enough, I hit a fence post,” he said.
Mellars earned a combat infantry badge.
During World War II, Mellars also served in the Philippines, where he and his men escorted discharged soldiers to their home districts.
The U.S. Army soldiers lived in tents and learned to dodge bullets that riddled their makeshift homes at night.
“Our tent was full of bullet holes. Of course, we learned real quick. We dug slit trenches right alongside of our bunks. They started shooting, we just rolled out of bed and into the slit trench and let them go,” Mellars said.
Scarier than sleeping through gunfights, though, was Mellars’ drive along Zig Zag Pass. Mellars found himself in charge of a fleet of trucks “that were no good for the front lines.”
He had never driven anything bigger than a little pickup and enlisted the help of a young truck driver – “Show me everything you know,” Mellars laughed. He learned quickly and served as a driver in the relocation operations.
Mellars passed on the opportunity to reenlist in 1946, opting to start a family with Evelyn.
You can take the man out of the Army but you can’t take the service out of the man: In 1949, while working as a trolley operator, Mellars joined the National Guard 28th Infantry Division.
“You know what happened in 1950: Korea. Back in the federal service I went,” said Mellars, who served as captain and commander of the 110th Infantry, Heavy Mortar Company. “Our Guard division went to Germany, relieved that (unit), and they went to Korea.”
Mellars served two years in the Korean War and retired from the National Guard in 1970. His seven siblings all served in the military, too, spanning all branches, a point of pride for the family.
Both Mellars’ sons are Vietnam War veterans.
Following his military career, Mellars worked to build Charles Mellars State Farm Insurance agency in Washington.
“I was tied up in the military and then building an agency, which took me from 8 o’clock in the morning to 9 at night. So (Evelyn) actually raised these kids. She was actually a (baseball) coach. I missed them growing up,” he said. “But she did a good job, really good job, raising them.”
Mellars and his wife enjoyed touring the country in their hi-lo camper (he’s been to every state save Hawaii), and when Mellars retired from State Farm at age 67, the couple set out on a two-month tour of Alaska with another couple.
The trip was the adventure of a lifetime. In Tok, Evelyn won a drawing to ride on a dog sled, and the group explored Denali National Park and “saw Santa Claus” in the North Pole. Mellars and his wife celebrated 66 years of marriage before Evelyn passed in 2012.
Mellars misses her every day, but he keeps active. The centenarian hits the gym three times a week and, though he recently gave up meeting friends on the links, still hits golf balls in his backyard.
He still drives, too. At age 99, Mellars passed his first driving physical, but was disappointed no one made him drive the test route. “Of course, I didn’t sweat the physical at all,” said Mellars. “I said, ‘Why don’t you take me out on the road and try me out?'”
Mellars enjoys yard work, socializing and spending time with family, including his three children Bill, Larry and Sherry Stein, and grandchildren. Larry said “every day” with his dad is his favorite.
Mellars is among the last of the Greatest Generation, and though the world has changed drastically since his childhood, some things – faith, family and friends – remain core values.
“He is an anomaly,” smiled Nancy Mellars, his daughter-in-law.
Mellars is looking forward to celebrating “My Life, Her Life, Our Life,” the name of his diary, and 100 years of life well-lived on July 29 with loved ones – and a slice of cake, because it’s been a sweet ride.