Air Force Retired Master Sergeant Melvin Bockelman, 97, of Concordia, MO, died Monday, December 30, 2024, at the Kansas City VA Medical Center in Kansas City, MO.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, January 10, 2025, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Concordia with Pastors Joel Kurz and Michael Pottschmidt officiating. Burial with military rites will follow at 2 p.m. at St. Peters Cemetery in the Flora community. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. prior to the service at the church. Memorials are suggested to House of Hope in care of Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home. An online guestbook is available at www.campbell-lewis.com.
Born December 9, 1927, in Great Bend, KS, he was the son of the late Louis Bockelman and Hulda Uppendahl Bockelman. At a young age, the Bockelman family moved to a farm near Concordia, MO, where he spent many years of his life. Mel was a World War II veteran, having served in the liberation of the Philippines in World War II. He received the Philippine Liberation Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal. He served during the Cold War in the headquarters of the U.S. Nuclear Bomber and Missile Force, the Strategic Air Command, and retired from the Air Force in 1966.
Mel and Harriet Klingemann met in Omaha, Nebraska and married on April 9, 1950. Together they raised 3 children in the Lutheran faith while the family was stationed in London, Omaha, Hawaii, California, Colorado Springs, and Kansas City. They were married for 66 years until Harriet’s passing in 2016.
Mel was hired by then Kansas City Police Chief Clarence Kelly to design and install the first computer system for the police department. He received a resolution from the Mayor Charles Wheeler, and the city council, commending him for successfully developing Kansas City’s original police computer system, ALERT. He served on the FBI’s National Crime Information Center Committee and on the committee for development of the statewide Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System, MULES. He also installed Lafayette County’s first computer system. Mel was presented with a letter of commendation by then FBI Director Clarence Kelly for participating in a study of the effectiveness of FBI computer systems.
Mel was certified by the Missouri Supreme Court as a Municipal Judge and served on the bench of the Concordia Municipal Court for seven years.
He devoted his time in raising the awareness of the citizens of Lafayette County to the horrible consequences of domestic violence. He served on the first board of directors establishing the House of Hope for victims of domestic violence in Lafayette County.
Mel wrote a book about Concordia area veterans who served in World War II and also wrote about many news accounts of WW II, as well as accounts of Korean War veterans and their combat experiences with America’s enemies. He wrote over 500 articles for newspapers in Lafayette and surrounding counties.
He was a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Warrensburg, MO and a former member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Concordia. He was also a member of the American Legion, and V.F.W. posts, and served on the Concordia Veteran’s Honor Guard.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Harriet; daughter, Diane; great-granddaughter, Skylar; sisters, Lavonna, Verna, and Qunita; and brothers, Lorenz, Markie, and Louis. Survivors include two sons, Mel Bockelman Jr. (Rebecca) of Overland Park, KS and Ron Bockelman (Becky) of Olathe, KS; 6 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; sister, Naomi Foster of Warsaw, MO, as well as many nieces and nephews.