Melvin Monroe Romine

He was born on January 26, 1938, to Henry Melvin Romine and Leona Esther Schwope in Shattuck, Oklahoma.

Mel was a member of the winning 1953, 1954 and 1955 Pampa Harvesters High School basketball team. The Harvesters played in the Texas state basketball tournament three times and won twice between 1953 to 1955. He also played football for his high school. Along with his love of sports, he was Sophomore Class President, acted in the Senior Class play, Harvey, and won the Senior Class Dramatics Award. Melvin attended Oklahoma Agricultural & Mechanical College, now Oklahoma State University, for one year prior to his appointment to the United States Naval Academy. He attended the Naval Academy from July 1957 to June 1961. He spoke of the honor of marching as a Midshipman in President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural parade. He also described being moved by President Kennedy’s address at his Naval Academy graduation.

Upon graduation from the Naval Academy, Mel attended flight school in Pensacola, Florida and served in the Vietnam War as a naval aviator in the Anti-Submarine Squadron on the USS Kearsarge. Later, he was a naval flight instructor in Meridian, Mississippi until he was honorably discharged with the rank of Lieutenant in 1968. Melvin was awarded the Naval National Defense Service Medal and the Naval Expeditionary Medal for his service during the Vietnam War. He was also a proud supporter of the U.S. Naval Academy President’s Circle.

He married Kathleen Dorsey McCarthy on June 9, 1961at the Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis, Maryland. They had three children, Melissa Brooke (Hagan), Laura Kathryn, and Christopher Reid.

Mel returned to school to get a Master of Business Administration from West Texas State University. In 1970, he moved his family, with Christopher, soon to arrive, to Houston after accepting an opportunity with Shell Oil Company’s Information Technology department. He retired from Shell in 1991.

Mel and Kathleen divorced; later he married Helen Silver. They divorced in 2021.

Mel loved a long drive on open roads of Texas with his family on his way to his next camping spot. He was a man of deep commitment to planning and focus, who was also surprisingly willing to wander to unplanned destinations. We always knew where Dad would take us, mostly. We knew he loved nature by what he showed us. He once stopped on the highway near Fort Davis, so we could watch a large group of tarantulas stream across. He was also thrilled to point out to us on another trip that there was a Black Widow spider at our family camping ground in Balmorhea. He would always accept a challenge to eat the hottest pepper while telling his children that the pepper was not that hot, while breaking out in a visible sweat.

He sang John Denver songs with all his heart at several campground sing-alongs in Colorado. He loved his family, his dogs, growing tomatoes and occasionally corn in his suburban vegetable garden—the canning not as much, watching the weather, like he was assigned to send out the alerts, and growing up in the Texas Panhandle, he always knew the importance of a good tree, especially a Texas Oak tree.

His children treasure all these memories and more—tubing down the Frio River; playing Yahtzee by lantern light; watching him almost swallow a June Bug while drinking his water and playing said Yahtzee; seeing him run away from a locust in his swimsuit (it’s too hard to explain); having the comfort of his careful, focused, calm drive down a long country road to the hospital, when one of us was injured on a camping trip; swimming in the natural spring pool at Balmorhea State Park; climbing the mountain in the Fort Davis National Park; rainy days in northern New Mexico, the Sierras; exploring caves; the freezing bath showers in the Colorado mountains; and swimming in lakes, rivers and the Gulf of Mexico.

Mel’s family will miss this soft-spoken, modest man and his quiet consistency. His children are deeply proud of his achievement and example. Mel is survived by Melissa Hagan and her husband John, Christopher Romine, his wife, Cindi, and their daughters Brooke Lauren and Maren Kate, his half-brother, David Romine, stepbrother, Robert Taylor, Kathleen Romine and Helen Silver.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Leona, his stepfather, Leslie Joseph Taylor, daughter Laura Kathryn, and stepsister, Joella Taylor.

Melissa and Chris thank the caregivers at Watermark, All Around Care, and Health Choice. The family will provide an update with the date and location of the memo