Gale McKiddy
Melvin's family
Melvin grew up in St. Louis City where he attended school. As a young man he worked for the Conservation Corps in Oregon before he enlisted in the Army. He was among the first troops to enter Hiroshima about one month after the atomic bomb. He had been on the ship The Missouri. Melvin trained as a carpenter and built temporary hospitals for the wounded Japanese and those suffering from radiation illness. After returning home to St. Louis, he married Jean (Spitzmiller) Baldwin and continued his career designing and building beautiful homes. He and Jean had three children, Gale, Connie and Kenneth, and later raised the son named Ricky of his favorite sister, Francis Huffman. The Huffmans moved to Seffner, Florida in 1981 for retirement. Melvin was a Mason, later became a Shriner, and was very active in the St. Louis and Tampa Shrine groups. He and his wife, Jean, were regular volunteers in the burns' unit at the Shriners Hospital in Tampa. In 1993 Melvin was diagnosed with lung cancer and completed extensive radiation therapy. He had not had sufficient breath support to have his lung removed. He was in remission until 1996 when his cancer returned as Leukemia. He died at 70 years old in 1996 and was buried at Florida National Cemetery. Mr. Huffman had a reputation as a skilled woodworker and finish carpenter. His many interests and hobbies included boating, raising fish, photography, building clocks and woodworking.
