Mel was a master craftsman and mischief maker, a biker like his mother, Lily, before him. He met the love of his life, Carol (Debbie), when she came to his Fred Villari studio in New Hampshire for karate lessons, and he swept her off her feet onto the back of his motorcycle. Both were a package deal - Mel brought his son Richard Melvyn, and Carol brought her daughter Bethany. Each of them raised each other's children with the same love they showed their own.
Mel moved his family to Florida in the early 1980s, where he spent many years running the Mill Shop for Universal Studios. You can still see his handiwork in the original park today. When he wasn't trading favors with the theme park's chefs to get lobster spreads for the guys in the Mill Shop, you could find him practicing Kung Fu, riding Harleys with Carol, or getting his bald head bathed by one of his puppies (who were all so well-fed they looked more like sausages than dogs).
Mel loved family, good food, and laughing. He raised his kids, Richard Melvyn and Bethany, on shepherd's pie, Yorkshire pudding, and other proper fare from his childhood home of England, and is still remembered for spreading mayonnaise on his pizza. All of us learned to make his favorite Missouri Cookies - a recipe shared by his sisters, Janet and Christine.
Mel had a laugh that carried everyone in the room with him, and if you ever heard it even once, you can probably still hear it in your mind now.
He is survived by his wife Carol, son Richard Melvyn, daughter Bethany, grandchildren Bryce, Kolby, Leife, and Zoie, sisters Janet and Christine, and a host of nieces, nephews, in-laws, and friends, all of whom, no matter the distance, were the source of his joy.
Though his memory became less reliable in the last years of his life, he always remembered the members of his family, as we always will remember him.