Melvin Francis Wendrick, of Pinetop and Apache Junction, Ariz., a former priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit, died July 18 in Show Low, Ariz.

He was born Feb. 8, 1930, to Francis and Margaret (Grabowski) Wendrick.

He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1959 and served 10 years in the Archdiocese of Detroit, at St. Raymond Parish, Detroit; St. Thomas the Apostle, Ann Arbor; and Immaculata High School, Detroit.

Mr. Wendrick resigned from the active clerical ministry in 1969. He entered a doctoral program, at Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Ind. It was there that he met and married his wife, Mary. Subsequently, Mr. Wendrick accepted a counseling position in the Calipatria Unified School District in Calipatria, Calif.

He was recruited by Imperial Valley Community College, Imperial, Calif. to develop and direct a program for students with disabilities. He held that post for 26 years.

He was very active locally and statewide in promoting services to the disabled. Soon after his retirement, the Disabled Students Program and Services Office at Imperial Valley College was renamed the Mel Wendrick Access Center.

After his retirement, he and his wife moved to Pinetop, Ariz. He volunteered at St. Francis Apache Mission in Whiteriver, Ariz. for a number of years before moving to Horizon Bay in Apache Junction, Ariz.

He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Mary; his brother Douglas (Elaine) Wendrick of South Lyon.; nephew Paul (Colette) Wendrick of Bullhead City, Ariz.; nieces Wendy (Chris) Jones of Tustin, Calif.; Lori (Bob) Wagner of South Lyon, Mich.; numerous grandnephews and grandnieces, cousins, friends and colleagues.

A funeral Mass was to be celebrated Thursday, Aug. 12, at St. Francis Church in Whiteriver, Ariz., by Fr. Eddie Fronske. A memorial services is to be held at Imperial Valley College, in October, at a date to be announced later.

Interment is to be at San Luis Rey Mission in Oceanside, Calif.

Memorials to Mel Wendrick Access Center, through the Imperial Valley College Foundation, P.O. Box 158, Imperial, CA 92251.