Melvin Edward Shultz, 81, died at his home in Joppa, Md., on Wednesday, April 25, 2012. He was born on a farm west of Humboldt Feb. 6, 1931 the son of Melvin Wm. “Pat” and Nellie Cleone Booe Shultz. He attended Humboldt schools, graduating from Humboldt High School in 1949.

On July 23, 1950 he married Nata Darlene Grogan of Chanute. In 1951 he was drafted into the Marine Corps and served two years at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Following his discharge he attended Chanute Junior College and Kansas State University, graduating in 1958.

He went to work for the U.S. Department of Defense, St. Louis, Mo. While working for DOD he earned a PhD from the Ohio State University. After retirement in 1986, the couple returned to Chanute.

In 1995, they moved to Gulf Shores, Ala., then to Joppa, Md., in 2005.

He is survived by his wife, Nata; two children, Darla Jean Bailey and husband, Roger, St. Louis, and Jeffery Craig Shultz and wife, Aubrey, Joppa; four grandchildren and one great-granddaughter; his sister, L. Maxine Menish, Topeka, formerly of Humboldt. He was preceded in death by his brother Ralph Eugene Shultz. Funeral was Tuesday, May 1 at Immanuel Baptist Church, Baltimore, Md. He requested his body be donated to the Anatomy Gifts Registry, Glen Burnie, Md.