Melvin H. Mandigo

BETHEL—Former State Representative and State Senator, Melvin H. Mandigo, 92, died Friday afternoon, Sept. 16, 2005 at Gifford Medical Center in Randolph. He was born July 16, 1913 in Moretown, the son of Arthur A. and Lucia (Harvey) Mandigo.

He graduated from Randolph High School in 1931, attended Dartmouth College, and received his Bachelor of Science from University of Vermont in 1937.

He married Enid Wakeman of Barton in 1934. After her death, he was married in 1983 to Mildred Cone Tewksbury, who died in 1996. He married Nancy Harlan in Randolph Dec. 23, 2000.

The son of a Methodist minister, he lived in many towns, moving to Glover in 1948, where he farmed with his wife, Enid. He was a high school vocational agriculture teacher in Winchester, N.H. 1937-41, in Barton, 1942-46, and in Orleans, 1948-60. He had been a distributor-insemination instructor for Curtiss Breeding Service, and was a part-time Morgan horse breeder.

He had been active in Glover town affairs, serving as town lister, moderator, and clerk of the school board. He was past president and secretary of the Orleans County Farm Bureau, and past director and judge for the Orleans County Fair Association.

He was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives from District 28 in 1965; a position he held until serving six years as state senator from Essex-Orleans District from 1974-80. During his political career, he served as Orleans County Republican Committee Chairman, Vermont Republican State Committee Executive Committee member, on the Ways & Means Committee 1969-72, and as Government Operations Committee Vice Chairman 1973-74. He also served on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where he was chairperson for four years, Senate Health and Welfare Committee, the Joint Energy Commission, the Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Committee, and was a co-sponsor, charter member, and vice chairman of the Administrative Rules Review Committee. He served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Detroit in 1980.

He moved to Randolph from Glover in 1983, and to Bethel in 2000. His memberships included the United Churches in Glover and Randolph, the Northeast Kingdom Horseman’s Assoc., Brookfield Masonic Lodge, Randolph Historical Society, and Randolph VNA Hospice Committee. He was past chairman of the Glover Town Republican Committee and the Orleans County Republican Committee. He enjoyed reading, woodworking, gardening, and raising collies.

Survivors include his wife, Nancy Harlan Mandigo of Bethel; stepsons, John D. Harlan, Jr. of Charleston, W.Va.; and Merrill D. Harlan of Bethel; step-daughters, Sally Tewksbury Cooper of Dade City, Fla.; and Jane Turner of Spring Hill, Fla.; four step-grandchildren, and seven step-great-grandchildren.

He was predeceased by his sister, Elisabeth Mandigo Berry.

Memorial services will be held Saturday, Sept. 24 at 2 p.m. at the United Church of Randolph, with Rev. Roger Wotton officiating. There are no calling hours. Burial will take place Friday, Oct. 14 at 11 a.m. at the Westlook Cemetery in Glover.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the Gifford Medical Center, Menig Extended Care Facility Expansion, P.O. Box 2000, Randolph, Vt. 05060, or to the Randolph Area Hospice, c/o Irma Hartigan, 20 Elm St., Randolph, Vt. 05060.

Arrangements are by the Day Funeral Home in Randolph.

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