Homer Kelly Mentz was born in Alleghany County, Virginia, son of Grover Cleveland Mentz and Sallie Kelley Mentz. His highest school grade completed was 6th grade. Homer married Emma Mohar on July 31, 1931 in Beckley, West Virginia. They had thirteen children. Homer worked in a coal mine in West Virginia. His occupation is listed as a 'tipple man' on the 1940 US Census. A tipple is a place for screening coal and loading it into trucks or railroad cars. A tipple man would push carts full of coal to an unloading area and 'tip' them over to dump the coal out.