William Melancon, Jr.

William Everett Melancon, Jr., was a member of the Fall Class of 1946 at Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco.

        He was born on October 2, 1928, to William Everett and Dorthy (Simmons) Melancon in Webster Grove, Missouri, a small town near St. Louise, Missouri. He was an only child. His father was born in Louisiana on January 22, 1902, and died in Sonoma County, California, on June 9, 1988. His mother, Dorothy, was born in Alaska on January 29, 1903, and died on October 26, 1983 in San Mateo County, California.

        He and his parents moved to San Francisco in 1941 and lived on 42nd Avenue in the Sunset District. He graduated from Lawton Grammar School. Upon graduating from the eighth grade, he entered Abraham Lincoln High School as a freshman in 1943.

        While in high school, in addition to academic courses, he enrolled in the Junior Reserve Officer's Training Corps and subsequently rose to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. One of his out-of-school activities included being a member of Troop 37 of the Boy Scouts. While a scout, he became, after considerable work, a First Class Scout, and, at the same time, helped his friends achieve a similar rank.

        He was in the Eleventh Commencement Class of Abraham Lincoln High School and graduated on January 27, 1947.

        The 1946-1947 Roundup states the following about Bill Melancon: ". . . 'Coot' was an R.O. officer . . . ambition: to stay single . . .likes Model A's."

        Prior to graduating, he applied to and was accepted as a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

        He was scheduled to graduate from West Point in June 1952. While on a return flight to the Academy, he was killed when the plane crashed into a mountain in Arizona on December 30, 1951.

        He was interred on January 9, 1952, with his grandparents. Mr. & Mrs. Frederick S Simmons, at the Presidio of San Francisco National Cemetery in Section OS, Plot 96, Grave #6.