LAYTON--Melton Ray Hogge, beloved father and grandfather, died on March 22, 1999 in Layton, Utah, from complications relating to congestive heart failure. He was 86.
Melton was born December 19, 1912 in Menan, Idaho, the seventh child of Joseph Hogge Jr. and Mary Jeanette Yearsley. He learned to work hard on a farm and was the captain of the Midway High School basketball team. He grew up during the Great Depression but with financial help from his mother and three brothers, he attended Idaho State University in Pocatello and graduated in 1934 with a degree in business. On June 7, 1936 he married Edna May Taylor, and they had one child, a son, Robert, born in 1941.Melton worked for the Salt Lake Hardware Company, in Montrose, Colorado until he entered World War II as a PFC in the 311th Infantry Regiment, 78th Infantry Division. He was wounded with shrapnel from a mortar on the German front and received the Purple Heart. After a period of convalescence, he returned to the Salt Lake Hardware Company, and lived in Pocatello, and became one of its top salesmen in Southeastern Idaho. In 1953 the company transferred him to Grand Junction, Colorado, and he became its division manager, a position he held for a decade. Later he worked first as a wholesale hardware distributor for Hoffman Hardware in California and then, in Salt Lake City, for Ace hardware setting up retail stores throughout the Intermountain West. He retired in 1974. His beloved wife, Edna, died in 1977.
He was an avid reader and researcher, he and his brother, Ron, visited genealogical sites throughout Utah and Idaho, gathering valuable information. In 1995, he moved to Layton to be close to his son and his son's family. Those of us who love him cherish the time we spent with him.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. at the Heather Glen Chapel, 2025 East 2000 North, Layton. Friends and family may call Saturday 9-9:45 a.m. prior to services. Interment, Little Butte Cemetery in Annis, Idaho at 2:30 p.m. Funeral arrangements made by Lindquist Layton Mortuary.