Melvin E. Bethlehem, 81, of Julian, passed away peacefully at Haven Place in Lock Haven, on October 12, 2026. Born on February 12, 1945, he was the son of the late Harold and Hazel (Bush) Watson. On June 22, 1968, Melvin married Marie C. (Irvin) Bethlehem, who preceded him in death on October 17, 2013.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Melvin was a 1963 graduate of Bald Eagle Area High School. Following graduation, he proudly served his country in the United States Navy for four years. He obtained the rank of Fireman (FN) and received the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Service Medal. Upon returning to civilian life, he spent his career working at Corning Glassware in State College until his retirement.<\/p>\n
A dedicated member of Brookside Wesleyan Church, Melvin faithfully served as an usher for many years. In his retirement, he enjoyed bowling with the senior league at Bellefonte Lanes.<\/p>\n
He is survived by two sisters-in-law, Ruth Rhodes (Tom) of Julian and Fonda Luther of Bellefonte; his niece, Heather Khubchandani (Khatu) of Rhode Island; and two nephews, Travis Rhodes of Julian and Christopher (Barbara) Luther of Bellefonte.<\/p>\n
Along with his parents and wife, Melvin was preceded in death by his sister, Mae Baney.<\/p>\n
Family and friends are invited to a viewing on Thursday, October 15, 2026, from 12 noon \u2013 1pm at the Daughenbaugh Funeral Home in Milesburg. Funeral service will begin at 1pm at the funeral home with Pastor Mike Fisher officiating. Burial with full military honors will follow funeral at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Unionville.<\/p>\n
The family wishes to extend their heartfelt gratitude to the staff at Haven Place, as well as Melvin\u2019s caring neighbors, Eric & Nora Seth, for the exceptional kindness and support shown to him.<\/p>\n
Arrangements have been entrusted to Daughenbaugh Funeral Home, Inc in Milesburg, PA. An online guest book can be signed, or you may post your condolences to the family at www.daughenbaughfuneralhome.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melvin E. Bethlehem, 81, of Julian, passed away peacefully at Haven Place in Lock Haven, on October 12,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-307780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}