Elver Vincent “Red” Mendenhall Sr., a 25 year resident of Mount Shasta, went home to be with his Lord and Savior on July 24, 2008 while visiting his daughter in Chico, CA.   He was 85 years old.   Red was born in Greeley Colorado to Elver Vincent Clarence Herbert Mendenhall of Morgan County, Ohio and Estella (Whiteley) Mendenhall of Stanbury Missouri, on April 26, 1923.  When he was five years old, his family moved to Lancaster, California where he spent his remaining childhood years, going to school and growing up on a farm. 
After he graduated from Antelope Valley Joint Union High School, he enlisted in the US Army and was a Technician, Fifth Grade with the 518th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion.  A World War II Vet, he served in both the Philippines and New Guinea.  He was Honorably Discharged on April 15, 1946.
For the next several years, He was a truck driver and logged thousands of miles all up and down the old Highway  99.  On September 29, 1950, he married Dorothy June ìDottyî Friedman of Chicago Illinois in a small ceremony at Olvera Street in Los Angeles.  They made their home together in Norwalk, California till January of 1984, when they moved to Mount Shasta upon his retirement.
While living in Norwalk, Red worked at Crown Zellarbach Paper Corporation in the City of Commerce where he was a fork lift operator for 25 years.  He was a Union Shop Steward for the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers (A.W.P.P.W.).  He was very active with his local church, serving as a deacon or Sunday School teacher, singing in the choir or holding Bible Studies or anywhere he felt the Lord needed him to be.  Baseball was his all-time favorite pastime, whether it was listening to a game or watching it live (or doing both at the same time!) and coaching Little League.  His other favorite hobbies included both hunting and fishing which later became the motivation to move his family to Siskiyou County. 
Those who knew Red, will remember him for his unique sense of humor.  No matter who you were, you were fair game for being picked on, sung to, laughed with, or scolded at.   There were no strangers, to Red, only new friends to meet.  His stories of life were endless, his love for the Lord obvious, and he will greatly be missed.
Red is preceded in death, by both parents, all of his siblings, and his wife, Dorothy J. Mendenhall.
He is survived by his Son, Elver Vincent Mendenhall, Jr. of Alta Loma, CA, Daughters, Suzzanne M. Lunney of Mount Shasta, CA,  and Daun K. Slagle of Chico, CA, eleven grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. 
A celebration of his life will be held at The First Baptist Church of Mount Shasta on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 2:00pm, with a reception immediately following in the fellowship hall at the church.  In the near future his family will lay him and his wife to rest at the National Veteranís Memorial Cemetery in Igo, CA.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests donation to either Mercy Hospice or the First Baptist Church Property Fund be made in both Red and Dotty’s name.