Melvin Paul Schoonmaker
1922 -1995

Melvin Paul Schoonmaker, a retired Lewiston construction truck driver, died Saturday at his home from complications of diabetes. He was 73.

He was born Oct. 26, 1922, in Eldred, Pa., to Mark and Ella Cole Schoonmaker.

He worked for his father painting houses after his schooling.

He worked for the National Munitions Co. in Eldred, served in the Army Air Force from 1943 until 1946 and moved to Lewiston in 1944.

He married Joan Joyce Kalinoski on April 4, 1945, in Lewiston.

He was a painter for a body shop and worked for Potlatch Corp. and Lewiston Premix as a truck driver.

Then he worked for DeAtley on road construction and helped build Dworshak Dam, Winchester Grade and Lewiston Hill Grade.

He later worked for Poe Asphalt as a truck driver and retired after working as a truck driver for Steelman-Duff Inc.

He enjoyed camping with his family, hunting, fly fishing, steelhead fishing, boating and riding horses and was a member of Teamsters Local 551.

He and his wife celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year.

Survivors include his wife in Lewiston; two sons Larry Gene Schoonmaker in Seattle and Daniel Paul Schoonmaker in Boise; three daughters, Delores Diane Bond in Boise and Christine Kay Beale in Lewiston; sisters, Lucille Seal in Eldred, Pa., Virginia Porter in Pen Yan, N.Y. and Joyce Humphrey in Elmonte, Calif.; nine grandchildren; one stepgrandchild; and three stepgreat grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by two brothers and one sister.

Visitation will be Tuesday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Mountain View Funeral Home in Lewiston.

The funeral will be Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at Mountain View Funeral Home and the burial will follow at Lewis-Clark Memorial Gardens.

The family recommends memorials go to Family Hospice, P.O. Box 816, Lewiston, Idaho, 83501 or American Diabetes Association through Mountain View Funeral Home