Melvin Unruh

Melvin L. Unruh, 86, of Brooksville died Jan. 30 at Moundridge Manor in Moundridge, Kan.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015 at Brooksville Mennonite Church in Brooksville, MS. at 10:30 a.m. with Min. Devonn Miller and Min. Kendall Jost officiating. Burial will be at Brooksville Mennonite Church Cemetery. Visitation will be Feb. 2 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Oakwood Manor 355 Pine Street in Brooksville..Grandsons will serve as pallbearers: Perry Unruh, Todd Unruh, Les Unruh, Zach Unruh, Chris Unruh, and Brad Unruh. Memorials may be made to Oakwood Manor, P.O. Box 325, Brooksville, Miss. 39739.Cockrell Funeral Home of Macon is entrusted with arrangements.

Mr. Unruh was a native of Halstead, Kan. where he attended a small country school before transferring to public schools. He married in 1948 and he and his wife raised his six children on a small farm near Halstead before moving the family to Macon in 1979. In Macon he was involved in the fertilizer industry, serving local farmers, and later became a well-known painter. Certified in reflexology, he studied natural health remedies and helped operate a small herb products distributorship from their home for many years. After retirement he worked part-time at The Beacon and concentrated on caring for his wife and their pets. Friends and family remember him as a man of faith with a servant’s heart, and deeply devoted to his family.

In 2013 he and his wife moved from their home in Macon to Oakwood Manor in Brooksville. Because of declining health, he was moved to Moundridge Manor in 2014 where he could receive more intensive care.

A longtime member of Brooksville Mennonite Church, Mr. Unruh was very involved in the church’s work, including teaching Summer Vacation Bible School.

Mr. Unruh was preceded in death by his parents, Noah T. and Carrie Jantzen Unruh; and five sisters and one brother. He is survived by his wife, Norma J. Unruh of Brooksville; five sons, Barry Unruh of Columbus, Miss., Daniel Unruh of Gentry, Ark., Gordon Unruh of Siloam Springs, Ark., James Unruh of Brooksville, and David Unruh of Sioux Falls, S.D.; a daughter, Jeanette Unruh of Macon; and 14 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, and a number of nieces and nephews.