grew up in Cheraw, Colorado, and attended the East Holbrook Church where he lead singing and sang in a quartet. He went to Goshen College where he sang in the Collegiate Choir under Lon Shear and Dwight Weldy. He graduated from Goshen in with a Chemistry Major and from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in with a M.D. Degree, cum laude. Following medical school and an internship at D.C. General, Georgetown in Washington, D.C., he went to the Navajo Reservation for 2 years. He returned to the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center for a residency in internal medicine and a two-year fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Mel has been a member of the First Mennonite Church of Denver since 1964 and has sung in the choir since that time under the direction of Lois Decker, John Hershberger, Russ Gregory, Faye Yoder, Malon Amstuz and Arlen Hershberger. He is a strong advocate for prayer through singing.

Mel is in the practice of endocrinology in Boulder, where he lives, with his wife Carolyn, and enjoys tennis, travel, golf and skiing, as well as his, children and grandchildren. "Singing has always been an important part of our family life, both as a child, when my mother used to lead the mass choir for Bible School each year in Cheraw, and now as a grandfather, singing with my children and grandchildren. Singing has definitely helped to keep us together. Music conveys a message in a way that no other art form can, and is understood by every culture and people. It is part of the glue which holds First Mennonite Church together and, beyond that, holds entire communities together. In fact, Mennonites have long been identified by their superb singing. We must keep our tradition of singing four part harmony strong in our churches if we are going to survive and be different from other Protestant Churches."